Oklahoma City PPP Loan Fraud Lawyers
You got a PPP loan in 2020. Maybe 2021. Oklahoma businesses flooded the SBA with applications during the pandemic - the government was practically giving money away, and everyone seemed to be doing it. You filled out the paperwork, got approved, maybe stretched a few numbers here and there, got forgiveness. Years passed. You moved on. You figured the government had bigger fish to fry.
It hasn't.
The federal government turned PPP loan fraud prosecution into an assembly line - and Oklahoma City is directly in the crosshairs. The Western District of Oklahoma has an active Coronavirus Fraud Task Force that's been securing indictments and convictions since 2023. Congress extended the statute of limitations to 10 years. That 2020 loan you thought was forgotten? It's prosecutable until 2030. And federal prosecutors in Oklahoma City aren't done yet.
Welcome to Spodek Law Group. We handle federal PPP loan fraud defense in Oklahoma City and throughout the Western District of Oklahoma. If you've received a letter from the SBA Office of Inspector General, if federal agents have contacted you, or if you're just worried about that application you submitted five years ago - this article explains exactly what you're facing and what options might still exist.
The Federal Government Is Still Coming for Oklahoma
In August 2022, President Biden signed the PPP and Bank Fraud Enforcement Harmonization Act. Most people didnt notice. Most people should have.
It extended the statute of limitations from 5 years to 10 years - retroactively.
That means a PPP loan from April 2020 is prosecutable until April 2030. A loan from March 2021 until March 2031. The government gave itself a full decade to come for you. And there using that time. Right now. In Oklahoma.
Why did Congress do this? Because the original five-year window was closing. Loans from 2020 would have become unprosecutable in 2025 - and the government wasn't done. They had too many cases in the pipeline, too many referrals coming in, too many people who thought they'd gotten away with it. So Congress extended the clock. Retroactively. Every single PPP loan ever issued is now subject to prosecution for a full decade from the date of the offense.
The Western District of Oklahoma established a Coronavirus Fraud Task Force specifically to investigate pandemic relief fraud. This isnt some relic from 2020. The Task Force combines the efforts of FBI, IRS Criminal Investigation, SBA Office of Inspector General, Secret Service, and other agencies. They have strike forces dedicated to PPP fraud. They have data analytics teams reviewing loan applications. They have 250,000+ hotline complaints to work through.
The SBA Office of Inspector General has received more then 250,000 hotline complaints since the pandemic began. From those complaints, their data analytics teams identified more than 95,000 actionable leads. According to there own congressional testimony, that represents "more than 100 years of investigative case work." They're not even close to done.
The Task Force is still active, still reviewing loans, still referring cases for prosecution. They announced results in 2023. They secured convictions in 2024. Theyre still going. The median time from initial referral to indictment has decreased by 45% compared to 2022-2023. What used to take 8-12 months now takes 4-6 months. The machine is getting faster. If your under investigation - or if you will be - this is what your facing.
What Oklahoma PPP Fraud Cases Actually Look Like
This isn't hypothetical. Recent prosecutions in the Western District prove federal prosecutors are serious about Oklahoma.
Cases from DOJ Western District of Oklahoma:
- Madinah Montgomery (Oklahoma City, November 2024): Sentenced to 24 months federal prison for wire fraud. She submitted three separate EIDL loan applications totaling $385,000, claiming she owned a salon with 10 employees and $600,000 in revenue. She recieved $300,000 and used it for personal expenses. Ordered to pay full restitution.
- The Shaw Family (Oklahoma City/Lawton, August 2023): Six defendants, 28-count indictment. Charges include conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, false statements, and false representation of Social Security numbers. They created fictitious businesses and submitted fake bank statements, altered ID documents, and fraudulent tax records. Nearly $1 million in fraudulent PPP loans.
- Russell Kim (Edmond, September 2025): Restaurant owner who's business closed in March 2020. He submitted a PPP application with payroll information for employees who werent working anymore. Recieved $174,000. Faces up to 40 years in federal prison.
- Brian Foster (Norman, 2022): Pleaded guilty to making a false statement to a financial institution for a $20,833 PPP loan he filed in another person's name.
These arent people who stole millions. Some of these amounts are relatively small. Brian Foster's fraud was under $21,000. It didn't matter. Federal prosecutors in Oklahoma treated these cases with the same seriousness as cases involving hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The people who got caught in 2020 and 2021 often received relatively lenient sentences. Judges understood the chaos. They understood the desperation. Some defendants got probation or minimal prison time. That era is completley over. Defendants sentenced in 2024 and 2025 are receiving sentences approximately 40% longer than defendants who committed identical conduct but were sentenced in 2021-2022. Same crime, much longer sentence - just because of when you got caught.
According to Pandemic Oversight and GAO data, as of December 31, 2024:
- 3,096 defendants have been charged with pandemic relief fraud nationwide
- 2,532 defendants found guilty (82% conviction rate)
- 1,741 received prison time (81% of those convicted)
- 2,008 ordered to pay restitution (94%)
- Prison sentences ranged from 1 day to 30 years
The amount doesn't protect you. A Cincinnati defendant got 18 months for $21,000 in PPP fraud. First-time offenders in Oklahoma who fraudulently obtained between $150,000 and $500,000 are receiving 18 to 30 months in federal prison. Thats actual custody time, not probation.
One PPP application can trigger multiple federal charges:
- Wire Fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1343) - 20-30 years
- Bank Fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1344) - 30 years
- False Statements to SBA (18 U.S.C. § 1014) - 30 years
- Money Laundering (18 U.S.C. § 1956) - 20 years
- Aggravated Identity Theft (18 U.S.C. § 1028A) - mandatory +2 years consecutive
The Shaw family faced 28 counts. From PPP loans. Thats what charge stacking looks like when prosecutors want to send a message.
The Window You Didn't Know Existed
Most people don't understand how PPP investigations actualy work. Heres the thing - there's a window.
Between when the SBA OIG flags a loan and when the case gets referred to the FBI for criminal investigation, theres typically a six to twelve month period. During this window, leverage exists that completley disappears once criminal charges are filed.
The investigation typically starts with SBA OIG data analytics flagging your loan application. Maybe you had inconsistencies between your tax records and your payroll claims. Maybe your business address matched other flagged applications. Maybe someone filed a hotline complaint. Whatever the trigger, your file gets pulled for human review. Then it gets referred to the OIG investigative team. At some point, if the evidence is strong enough, it gets referred to the FBI for criminal investigation.
During the OIG review stage, a skilled defense attorney may be able to negotiate a civil disposition. Repayment plus a fine. Maybe a False Claims Act settlement. Civil penalties instead of criminal conviction. Not pleasant, but not a federal felony on your record either. The key is understanding were your case is in this pipeline - and acting before it moves to the next stage.
But heres were people destroy themselves.
Some people, panicking, decide to voluntarily repay the loan thinking it will make everything go away. The DOJ has explicitly stated that voluntary repayment can be used as evidence of consciousness of guilt. Returning the money without counsel doesnt make it go away - it can actualy strengthen the government's case against you. Prosecutors can argue that repayment proves you knew the loan was fraudulent. They can use it as an admission.
Others panic and start destroying documents. Deleting emails. Shredding bank statements. This is catastrophically bad. Document destruction in a federal investigation can become its own separate charge - obstruction of justice. Now your not just facing PPP fraud charges, your facing obstruction charges on top of it.
This is complicated. The timing matters enormously. Whether to repay, when to repay, how to structure any resolution - these decisions require someone who understands how federal prosecutors in the Western District think. And Oklahoma prosecutors have shown some willingness to resolve cases with misdemeanor charges in certain circumstances. Multiple cases in the Western District have seen defendants who fraudulently obtained $50,000-$150,000 plead to misdemeanor false statements rather than felony charges. But you won't know if thats possible without proper evaluation.
What to Do If Your Under Investigation
The single most important rule:
Never agree to discuss a potential PPP fraud case with a federal agent without a lawyer present.
This sounds obvious. Its not. Federal agents are trained to seem friendly, casual, just asking a few questions. They might show up at your business, your home, call you on the phone. They're just trying to "clear things up." They want to "give you a chance to explain." There perfectly nice. Cooperative. Understanding.
Theyre also building a case against you.
There have been multiple cases were people who decided to talk to investigators without counsel ended up being charged with obstruction or making false statements to federal agents - on top of the underlying PPP fraud. 18 U.S.C. § 1001 makes it a federal crime to make a false statement to a federal agent. It carries up to 5 years in prison. All you have to do is misremember something, say something slightly wrong, contradict your own paperwork - and suddenly your facing an additional charge. Those additional charges can add years to a sentence.
The same applies to talking to anyone else about the investigation. Don't discuss it with business partners who might be involved. Don't talk about it with family members. Don't post about it on social media. Any of these conversations can be subpoenaed, any of these people can be called as witnesses, any of these statements can be used against you.
If you're under investigation or concerned you might be:
- Don't destroy any documents. Document destruction can become a separate federal charge.
- Don't discuss the matter with others who may be involved. Those conversations can be used against you.
- Don't make voluntary payments to the SBA without counsel. This can be used as consciousness of guilt evidence.
- Don't ignore letters from SBA OIG or other federal agencies. Ignoring them doesn't make them go away.
- Contact a federal defense attorney immediately. The earlier you act, the more options may exist.
Todd Spodek has handled PPP fraud cases and understands the difference between OIG-stage investigations where civil resolution may be possible, and FBI-stage investigations where criminal defense is the priority. The Western District of Oklahoma has shown some flexibility for first-time offenders in certain cases. But that flexibility isnt automatic - it requires knowing how to navigate the system.
When Your Ready
If your in Oklahoma City - or anywhere in the Western District of Oklahoma - and your facing a PPP loan fraud investigation, Spodek Law Group can help you understand were you stand and what options exist.
The consultation is free. Theirs no obligation.
What you'll get is an honest assessment. Is this still at the OIG stage where civil resolution might be possible? Has it been referred to the FBI? What does the evidence look like? What are realistic outcomes - not best-case fantasies, but actual possibilities based on how these cases play out in the Western District?
Call us at 212-300-5196. The statute of limitations runs until 2030 or 2031 depending on when you got the loan. The government has time. But once they move, things happen fast. Montgomery was sentenced in November 2024 for loans she got in 2020. The earlier you have counsel, the more leverage exists.
Don't wait until federal agents show up at your door.
Were here when you need us.
