A Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) fraud scheme that involved nearly 100 individuals across the country and had acquired up to $1 million in fraudulent loans has ended in four defendants being charged in the U.S. Department of Justice’s District of South Carolina.
In 2020, Congress passed the largest financial support package in U.S. history: the $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, which authorized $349 billion in PPP loans.
The program provided small businesses with funds to pay up to eight weeks of payroll costs so that the businesses could fill in the financial gaps that the lockdowns created.
It was implemented by the Small Business Administration (SBA) through the Treasury Department, and it provided forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and other expenses….