Palm Beach County PPP Loan Fraud Lawyers
You got a PPP loan during the pandemic. Maybe it was 2020, maybe 2021. Everyone was getting them - the government was handing out money to keep businesses alive. You filled out the application, got approved, used the funds. Years passed. You moved on. You figured the government moved on too.
You're wrong.
The federal government didn't scatter prosecutors randomly across the country to chase PPP fraud. They looked at where the money went - and they stationed one of only three national COVID-19 Fraud Strike Force teams right here in the Southern District of Florida. Palm Beach County is in the crosshairs. The 10-year statute of limitations means your 2020 loan is prosecutable until 2030. And they're not slowing down.
Welcome to Spodek Law Group. We handle federal PPP loan fraud defense in Palm Beach County and throughout the Southern District of Florida. If you've received a letter from the SBA Office of Inspector General, if federal agents have contacted you, or if you're lying awake at night wondering if that PPP application is going to come back to haunt you - this article explains exactly what you're facing.
The Strike Force Came to South Florida
In September 2022, the Attorney General made a decision that changed everthing for Palm Beach County residents who took PPP money.
He selected the Southern District of Florida to head one of only three national COVID-19 Fraud Strike Force teams. Not just another prosecution office. A dedicated hunting ground. The Strike Force coordinates FBI agents, IRS Criminal Investigation, SBA OIG, Secret Service, Homeland Security Investigations, and a dozen other agencies - all focused on pandemic relief fraud.
This is the part nobody tells you: South Florida wasnt chosen randomly. It was chosen becuase of how much PPP money flowed here.
The statute of limitations for PPP fraud used to be five years. In August 2022, Congress extended it to ten years - retroactively. A PPP loan from 2020 is now prosecutable until 2030. A loan from 2021 until 2031. The government gave itself a full decade to come for you. And there using it.
What used to take 8-12 months from referral to indictment now takes 4-6 months. The Strike Force has gotten faster. More efficient. And cases that would of been declined in 2021 are now being prosecuted in 2025.
Palm Beach County Is Ground Zero
According to SBA data, Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade counties recieved 2.6% of all PPP funds nationally. But these three counties represent only 1.8% of the national population.
Thats the ratio that put a target on Palm Beach County. The region got more PPP money then its population warranted. So the DOJ stationed a Strike Force team here. Its not coincidence. Its strategy.
Recent Palm Beach County/South Florida PPP fraud cases:
- Raisha Kelly (Loxahatchee, Palm Beach County, May 2025): Convicted on 16 counts of wire fraud conspiracy. Sentenced to 5 years federal prison. She recruited people to submit fraudulent applications, charged 25% kickbacks, used dummy email accounts. Ordered to pay $440,000+ in restitution.
- Six-Person Scheme (Palm Beach County, March 2024): Six people arrested including a pastor from Riviera Beach. Prosecutors said they bought luxury cars and vacations with $3 million in fraudulent PPP funds.
- Lazaro Verdecia Hernandez (Miami): Sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for leading a PPP fraud and money laundering scheme. Among the longest sentences in SDFL.
- Malaina Chapman (Hialeah): A former SBA employee. 54 months federal prison. $1,297,178 in restitution. She submitted fraudulent applications for herself and conspired with others.
Since the pandemic began, the Southern District of Florida has charged more then 185 people for COVID fraud schemes involving over $220 million. They've seized more then $23.5 million in stolen relief funds. In summer 2024 alone, 17 individuals were charged with schemes totalling over $21 million.
Small Loan, Big Prison
Most people think: "They have bigger fish to fry. My loan was small. There focused on the million-dollar schemes."
They're not.
A Cincinnati defendant got 18 months in federal prison for $21,000 in PPP fraud. March 2025. Twenty-one thousand dollars. Eighteen months. The amount dosent protect you.
Raisha Kelly's scheme involved kickbacks of 25%. She's doing five years. Widny Thibaud, one of her co-conspirators, got 9 months. The amounts varied. Everyone got prison time.
This is were it gets dangerous: defendants sentenced in 2024-2025 are recieving sentences approximately 40% longer then defendants who committed identical conduct but were sentenced in 2021-2022. The early pandemic leniency is completley over. Federal judges in 2025 include prison time in nearly every PPP fraud sentencing regardless of the amount.
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
One application. Five charges. Theoretical exposure exceeding 100 years. In practice, sentences don't reach that level - but charge stacking gives prosecutors enormous leverage.
What to Do Now
The single most important rule if you're under investigation or think you might be:
Never talk to federal agents without a lawyer present.
This sounds obvious. But tax preparers who filed fraudulent PPP applications are now cooperating witnesses against there former clients. Wally Dorlus filed aproximately 170 fraudulent applications. He got 48 months. But he cooperated. The person who helped you commit fraud may be the first to flip when the feds come knocking.
Heres the trap most people fall into: they try to make the problem go away by voluntarily repaying the loan. The DOJ has explicitly stated that voluntary repayment can be used as evidence of consciousness of guilt. Returning the money dosent make it go away. It can actualy strengthen the government's case against you.
If your under investigation or concerned you might be:
- Don't destroy any documents. Document destruction becomes a seperate 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.
- Contact a federal defense attorney immediately. The earlier you act, the more options exist.
Todd Spodek has handled PPP fraud cases in the Southern District of Florida. He understands the difference between OIG-stage investigations where civil resolution may be possible, and FBI-stage investigations where criminal defense is the priority. That distinction matters enormously for your options.
When Your Ready
If you're in Palm Beach County - or anywhere in South Florida - and you're facing a PPP loan fraud investigation, Spodek Law Group can help you understand where you stand.
The consultation is free. There's no obligation.
What you'll get is an honest assessment. Is this still at the OIG stage? Has it been referred to the FBI? Is civil resolution possible? What are realistic outcomes - not best-case fantasies, but actual possibilities based on how these cases play out in the Southern District of Florida?
Call us at 888-997-4071. The statute of limitations runs until 2030 or 2031. The government has time. But once the Strike Force moves, things happen fast. 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.
