Orlando PPP Loan Fraud Lawyers

Orlando PPP Loan Fraud Lawyers

You opened the letter from the SBA Office of Inspector General. Or maybe an FBI agent called. Either way, your PPP loan from 2020 or 2021 is now under investigation in Orlando, and you’re terrified. You need to know what happens next – not what the statute says, but what actually happens to YOU in the next 30 to 180 days in Florida’s Middle District.

Thanks for visiting Spodek Law Group – a second-generation law firm managed by Todd Spodek. We’ve defended federal fraud cases for over 40 years, and we understand that when federal investigators contact you about PPP loans, you’re not looking for legal theory. You need the timeline you’re facing, the choices available to you right now, and realistic outcomes for people in your exact situation in Orlando.

You Got the Letter – What Happens in the Next 48-72 Hours

The SBA OIG letter looks official. Requests for bank statements, payroll records, tax returns – all related to your PPP loan. They frame it as “voluntary cooperation,” give you maybe 10 to 30 days to respond. The FBI call is different: an agent wants to “just talk” about your application, ask a few questions to “clear things up.” Both scenarios present the same critical choice, and you have about 48 to 72 hours to make it correctly. Talk to them yourself or hire an Orlando federal defense lawyer immediately. Most business owners think explaining the situation will resolve it – they made honest mistakes during pandemic chaos, after all. That instinct is dangerous. Here’s what Orlando prosecutors know that you don’t: statements you make to investigators become evidence of intent to defraud.

Consider what happened with the Orlando couple who settled in July 2025. Anthony and Lisa Terry faced allegations about four PPP loans, paid $88,677.62, and avoided criminal charges entirely. That’s the civil resolution track – it exists, but only if you handle the initial contact correctly. The Terrys had representation that presented their case to the SBA OIG before criminal referral.

Federal prosecutors in Orlando’s Middle District expect you to lawyer up. It’s not suspicious – it’s constitutional. Your Sixth Amendment right to counsel activates the moment government agents start asking questions that could incriminate you. They’ve charged 109 defendants with COVID fraud in the Middle District, collectively accused of trying to defraud the government of over $96 million. They know the process. You should too.

The Investigation Timeline You’re Actually Facing in Orlando

Investigations don’t move fast. Month one through two: document review. The SBA OIG examines what you submitted, comparing your loan application to actual payroll records, employee counts on tax returns, how you used the funds based on bank statements. Month two through six: analysis phase. Did you claim 25 employees when you actually had 8? Did you inflate monthly payroll from $15,000 to $45,000? Did you use $60,000 of the loan for a boat and vacation while certifying you spent it on business expenses? Honest errors – miscalculating which workers count as employees, including subcontractors incorrectly – often stay on the civil track. Fabricated W-2s, fake tax returns, obviously personal purchases passed off as business expenses trigger criminal referrals. Month six through twelve: the decision. Does this case stay civil or go criminal? The SBA OIG makes a recommendation to the Department of Justice. If civil, you’ll face a demand for repayment. If criminal, your file goes to federal prosecutors in the Middle District. This is the window where having an Orlando lawyer who knows these prosecutors matters – presenting your case before referral can sometimes keep the case civil. If it goes criminal, add another 6 to 12 months or more. Grand jury indictment. Arraignment in Orlando’s federal courthouse. Discovery. Plea negotiations. The statute of limitations gives them until 2030 or 2031 to charge you – Congress extended it to 10 years for COVID fraud. As of January 2023, the SBA OIG had 536 ongoing investigations nationally. Orlando prosecutors have shown no signs of backing off in 2025. Not every SBA OIG investigation becomes a criminal case, and the distinction between civil and criminal tracks depends on factors you can influence if you act quickly. Civil cases involve government demands for repayment but no criminal charges – small discrepancies stay here: you miscalculated employee counts, included people who technically weren’t employees under PPP rules, made good faith errors interpreting guidance that changed weekly during the pandemic. If you used the funds mostly correctly, actual business expenses like payroll, rent, utilities, but your application had mistakes, that argues for civil resolution. The Orlando couple’s July 2025 settlement demonstrates this: they repaid $88,677.62 and walked away without criminal records. Criminal cases involve intentional fraud – false statements about basic eligibility like claiming a business that didn’t exist, listing employees who weren’t real people, submitting fabricated tax documents, or misuse of funds for obviously personal expenses like luxury cars, vacations, personal real estate. These trigger criminal referrals because prosecutors can prove knowing intent to defraud. Your Orlando lawyer’s role in this phase is presenting your case to the SBA OIG before criminal referral happens, and that window exists but it closes. Once prosecutors in the Middle District receive the criminal referral, negotiating back to civil becomes nearly impossible. Sometimes showing contemporaneous confusion – emails asking your accountant about PPP rules, attempts to comply with changing guidance, documentation of actual business struggles – makes the difference between repayment and indictment. The cooperation paradox complicates this: statements you make trying to show good faith can be twisted into admissions of knowing fraud, where “I wasn’t sure if my brother counted as an employee” becomes “I knew he wasn’t an employee but listed him anyway,” which is why lawyers filter communication.

If You’re Charged – What 2025 Sentencing Looks Like

If you’re indicted, here’s what matters: real numbers from 2024 to 2025 cases, not the “up to 30 years” abstractions you see in statutes. Bank fraud carries theoretical maximums of 30 years in prison and $1 million in fines. That’s the government’s threat. Here’s the reality for Orlando defendants in the Middle District.

Sentencing in 2024 and 2025 is 40% longer than it was in 2021 or 2022 for identical conduct. The Department of Justice made PPP fraud a priority, and federal judges responded. Where a first-time offender with a $20,000 loan might have received probation in 2021, that same person now faces 6 to 12 months in federal prison under the guidelines – if they plead guilty and show remorse. The Middle District of Florida has already convicted 74 of 109 defendants charged with COVID fraud. Trials aren’t going well for defendants: only about 10% win federal fraud trials. Recent 2024 cases show the range: a Georgetown, Texas couple got a combined 32 years for a $3 million PPP scheme in October 2024. A former bank manager who organized fraudulent loans totaling $5 million got 65 months. A former ATF analyst who fraudulently obtained $34,675 got 11 months.

Factors that move your sentence: the loan amount, how you used the funds, whether you cooperated or obstructed, whether you showed remorse, whether you’ve repaid the money. About 90% of federal fraud defendants plead guilty because the trial penalty is real. If you plead guilty, accept responsibility, and cooperate, you might get the low end of the guideline range. If you go to trial and lose, you get the high end – or higher. Restitution is always ordered. Even if you serve prison time, you must repay the full loan amount plus interest.

Orlando federal prosecutors remain exceptionally aggressive in pursuing PPP fraud in 2025. The 10-year statute of limitations means they can charge cases through 2030 or 2031. If SBA OIG or FBI contacted you about your PPP loan, you need an Orlando federal defense lawyer who knows Middle District prosecutors within days. At Spodek Law Group, we’ve defended federal fraud cases for over 40 years. Todd Spodek represented Anna Delvey when everyone said the case was unwinnable. Many, many, years of experience with federal prosecutors. Call 212-300-5196.