The Small Business Administration (SBA) has suspended 7,800 Wisconsin borrowers linked to $375 million in potentially fraudulent pandemic-era loan activity.
The loans were taken under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and COVID Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) programs. PPP was a COVID-19-era loan initiative that sought to help businesses retain employees during the crisis. EIDL offered loans and advances to businesses to help them recover from the negative impacts of the pandemic lockdowns. The action against Wisconsin borrowers is part of the SBA’s investigation into states regarding the abuse of such pandemic-era programs, the agency said in a July 8 statement.
So far, the SBA has identified and suspended more than 150,000 borrowers across five states, including Wisconsin, linked to over $10 billion in suspected EIDL and PPP fraud, according to the agency. The largest among these involved the suspension of 112,000 California borrowers in connection with over $8.6 billion in potential fraud….