SBA suspends 100,000+ California borrowers over $9B suspected fraud
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The Small Business Administration (SBA) announced Friday that it has suspended more than 100,000 borrowers in California over suspected fraud, with allegations of fraud totaling nearly $9 billion.
SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler said the agency suspended 111,620 California borrowers suspected of fraudulent activity in SBA pandemic-era loan programs. These borrowers received 118,489 Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) loans totaling more than $8.6 billion.
“The Trump SBA is once again taking decisive action to ensure accountability in a state whose unaccountable welfare policies have created a culture of fraud and abuse at the expense of law-abiding taxpayers and small business owners,” Loeffler said in a statement. he said.
AS MORE BLUE STATES FACE SCREENING, HOUSE REPUBLICANS CALL MINNESOTA FRAUD PROBLEM ‘TIPE OF THE ICEBERG’
The Small Business Administration has suspended more than 100,000 borrowers in California over nearly $9 billion in suspected pandemic-era loan fraud, SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler announced Friday. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
“Today, we announced that we have suspended approximately 112,000 borrowers linked to at least $9 billion in suspected fraud,” he said. “This staggering number represents the most significant crackdown on those defrauding pandemic programs and highlights the extent of corruption the Biden Administration has tolerated for years.”
“As we did in Minnesota, we are actively working with federal law enforcement to identify criminals who defraud American taxpayers, hold them accountable, and recover stolen funds,” Loeffler said, referring to the Trump administration’s fraud crackdown in another blue state.
“As we continue our work on a state-by-state basis, our message is clear: pandemic-era fraudsters will not get a pass from this Administration.”
GOP SENATORS FORM TASK FORCE ON FRAUD RELATED TO MINNESOTA SCANDAL
U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) administrator Kelly Loeffler during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol on Monday, October 27, 2025 in Washington, DC, USA. (Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The announcement comes after the SBA said last month it was suspending 6,900 Minnesota borrowers after what it said was suspected widespread fraud was uncovered.
The agency had previously reviewed thousands of PPP and EIDL loans approved in Minnesota and identified nearly $400 million in potential fraudulent loans tied to borrowers.
According to Loeffler, this suspicious activity involved 7,900 PPP and EIDL loans approved during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler said the agency suspended more than 100,000 California borrowers linked to suspected fraud in pandemic loan programs. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
The SBA has previously said that at least $2.5 million in PPP and EIDL funds issued during the pandemic were linked to a Somalia-related fraud scheme based in Minneapolis.
