What Is PPP Loan Fraud And How A PPP Loan Fraud Attorney Can Help?

The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) of the Small Business Administration, formed as an integral part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic security (CARES) Act, is a vital pandemic relief effort. For this program is susceptible to misconduct, whistleblowers are important to ensure that taxpayers’ money is not being misused. The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ensures financial assistance to many ventures and independent projects to address the fiscal impact of the pandemic and to keep staff on their same payroll. Congress, as of February 2021, has approved a sum of $993 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program, making loans easily available for businesses that have met certain criteria already, and the business that has to pay off unless they spend their fund on authorized activities.

To expedite the program, the Small Business Administration that administers PPP has allowed lenders to depend on the borrower credentials in order to determine the eligibility of the borrower. However, self-certification leads to potential fraud or misconduct. With a huge amount of funds such as the PPP fund at stake and multiple loans issued, the Small Business Administration requires a whistleblower’s help to provide information about Paycheck Protection program-related frauds. The government investigates hundreds and thousands of alleged PPP-loan cases.

How to report Paycheck protection Program fraud – what role does a whistleblower play here?

Whistleblowers play a key role in preventing fraud schemes and guaranteeing that CARES Act funding, including Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans along with other Covid-19 relief assistance, has been utilized for its intended reasons. PPP frauds tend to reach deep into the community if not prevented when it’s still in its initial stage. It is unacceptable that if anyone attempts to filch from the community with the help of the CARES Act to stuff their own pockets at the time of national crisis. In cases where criminal activities engage government funds, for example, loans sanctioned under the PPP – the FCA might apply.

The FCA incentivizes whistleblowers to take legal action against people and companies defrauding the government and get back all the funds on behalf of the government. The law requires the qui tam lawsuits to be represented by only a PPP loan fraud attorney. Once the qui tam law is filed, the investigation by the government gets initiated for all the allegations and determines whether or not to join the case and get on with the prosecution. Whistleblowers who have filed ‘qui tam’ lawsuits under the FCA are due for receiving rewards of up to 15% to 30% of the funds recovered if the prosecution succeeds. The FCA is formed to protect the whistleblowers from employers’ retaliation. Employees who have suffered job termination, demotion, or any other forms of retaliation after they have come forward as whistleblowers can take legal actions against their employers and collect compensation for damages and also attorney’s fees.

Whistleblower lawyers for PPP fraud cases

If you have been possessing any information in regards to PPP loan fraud, you can file a ‘qui tam' lawsuit under the guidance of a PPP loan fraud attorney at Brown, LLC. Before you blow the whistle, it’s typically a wise idea to consult us at Brown, LLC and learn as much about the procedure as possible.