Anchorage EIDL Loan Fraud Lawyers

Anchorage EIDL Loan Fraud Lawyers

You got contacted about your EIDL loan. Not by the SBA – by federal investigators operating out of Anchorage. FBI Anchorage Field Office, maybe IRS Criminal Investigation, possibly SBA Office of Inspector General. You’re in Anchorage, which means your case will be prosecuted at the District of Alaska US Attorney’s Office and tried at the James M. Fitzgerald United States Courthouse in downtown Anchorage – the only federal courthouse handling criminal prosecutions for the entire state of Alaska. Thanks for visiting Spodek Law Group. Todd Spodek is a second-generation criminal defense attorney who has handled hundreds of federal fraud prosecutions, including dozens of pandemic loan cases in federal districts across the country.

Here’s what happens when Anchorage’s federal prosecutors investigate your EIDL loan and what you need to understand about the choices you have in the next 48 hours.

Anchorage Federal Courthouse Controls Alaska Prosecutions

Alaska’s entire federal criminal docket runs through Anchorage. The James M. Fitzgerald United States Courthouse at 222 West 7th Avenue handles every federal prosecution in Alaska – Fairbanks, Juneau, Ketchikan, Nome, Sitka, Kodiak. There’s no local federal courthouse, no regional federal prosecutor. Your case gets prosecuted in Anchorage regardless of where you live or where you received EIDL funds. The District of Alaska US Attorney’s Office operates out of the Anchorage courthouse, prosecuting pandemic loan fraud under mandatory Guidelines. Distance from Anchorage doesn’t reduce your sentencing exposure – loss amount determines your Guidelines range, which determines your actual prison time. The FBI Anchorage Field Office coordinates EIDL fraud investigations statewide, working with IRS Criminal Investigation and SBA Office of Inspector General to build cases against defendants who submitted false information on EIDL applications. These investigations culminate in Anchorage courtroom prosecutions.

Here’s what most Anchorage residents don’t know: the overwhelming majority of criminal defense attorneys here handle state crimes. DUI, assault, drug offenses – state charges prosecuted in Alaska courts under Alaska law. Federal fraud prosecution operates under completely different rules. Different statutes, different courthouse, different prosecutors with different resources. 18 USC Section 1014 governs EIDL fraud – false statements to the SBA carry up to 30 years imprisonment. When Anchorage business owners hire the attorney who handled their DUI, they’re bringing a state practitioner to a federal prosecution. The US Attorney’s Office recognizes this immediately – and the plea offers reflect it.

That “Clarification Interview”

Most EIDL fraud defendants cooperate immediately without counsel. Federal agents frame initial contact as administrative clarification. “We’re reviewing your EIDL application and noticed some discrepancies. Can you help us understand how you calculated your business revenue?” That sounds like a reasonable request to fix paperwork errors. It’s criminal investigation. When you sit down to “clarify” your EIDL application without an attorney, agents already subpoenaed your bank records – every deposit, withdrawal, check, wire transfer from the day you received EIDL funds forward. They pulled your tax returns for 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021. They have your original EIDL application, your banking institution’s records. They compared your application’s revenue figures to your tax returns. They know what you claimed. They know what your returns show. They know where the money went. Now they need your statements to prove intent – that you knew the information was false when you submitted it. The Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination exists precisely for this scenario. You are not obligated to provide the government with evidence to prosecute you. But here’s what happens when defendants talk anyway. You say you “estimated” revenue based on projected income. That becomes evidence you knew the current revenue didn’t support the loan amount. You explain you used EIDL funds for “business expenses” – equipment, inventory, working capital. That becomes evidence you knew EIDL restrictions and spent differently. Your own words, offered in good faith, become the evidence that establishes criminal intent under 18 USC Section 1343.

The lawyered path functions differently. Your attorney doesn’t let you explain away discrepancies – those explanations become admissions. Instead, counsel evaluates what the government has, what they can prove without your statements, and whether the evidence demonstrates knowing false statements versus negligent errors. That distinction matters because it’s the difference between wire fraud (20 years maximum) and no charges at all. Timeline matters. Early intervention creates leverage for pretrial diversion, declined prosecution, or favorable plea terms.

Actual Sentencing Numbers

The theoretical maximum sentence under 18 USC Section 1014 is 30 years federal imprisonment. Wire fraud carries up to 20 years. That’s not what happens. Federal sentencing operates through mandatory Guidelines based on loss amount. The United States Sentencing Guidelines don’t have an “EIDL discount” or “pandemic sympathy” provision. Fraud is fraud. Loss amount determines your base offense level, which determines your Guidelines range, which determines your actual prison time. Small EIDL loans ($10,000 to $50,000) with clear fraud typically result in probation to 18 months for first-time offenders who accept responsibility. Medium loans ($50,000 to $250,000) produce 18-36 month sentences – the most common range. Large loans ($250,000 to $1 million) result in 36-92 month sentences. Three factors affect where you land. Loss amount matters most – every dollar counts. Your criminal history matters second. No prior convictions means you’re in Criminal History Category I, lower end of the range. Acceptance of responsibility matters third. Federal Guidelines provide 2-3 level reductions if you plead guilty and accept responsibility. A defendant facing 36-48 months drops to 24-30 months with acceptance. That’s why most EIDL fraud cases resolve through plea agreements rather than trial.

But here’s what changed between 2021 and 2025. Early pandemic loan fraud defendants benefited from judicial sympathy – “these were unusual times, the program was confusing, mistakes were made.” That sympathy has evaporated. Federal judges in Anchorage now view EIDL fraud through the lens of taxpayer theft during crisis. Defendants sentenced in 2024-2025 receive prison terms approximately 40% longer than those sentenced in 2021-2022 for identical loan amounts and conduct.

Loss amount fights matter because they determine everything. If your EIDL application claimed $175,000 but prosecutors can only prove $120,000 was fraudulently obtained, you just dropped from one Guidelines bracket to another – potentially 12-18 months less prison time. Anchorage prosecutors fight these calculations hard because they know loss amount determines sentencing exposure, and sentencing exposure determines whether defendants take plea offers or risk trial.

You have three choices. First: cooperate with investigators without counsel. You sit for the interview, answer their questions, “clarify” your application. What happens next: your statements become prosecution exhibits. Most defendants who choose this path realize too late that the “clarification” interview was the investigation’s critical moment. By the time they hire counsel, their own words have established the government’s case. Second: retain counsel immediately. Before any statements, before any interviews, before responding to document requests. Your attorney evaluates what the government has, communicates that you’re represented, determines whether cooperation benefits you. This is the objectively superior path. Early intervention means we control what evidence the government gets. Third: ignore investigators. Don’t respond to calls, don’t answer emails, don’t engage. What happens: they indict you. This is the worst option. It demonstrates consciousness of guilt without providing Fifth Amendment protection, it eliminates pretrial resolution possibilities, and it signals to prosecutors that you won’t cooperate.

The choice you make in the next 48 hours determines your sentencing range. Todd Spodek has handled hundreds of federal fraud prosecutions, including pandemic loan cases in federal districts nationwide. We’re available 24/7 at 212-300-5196.