Queens County PPP Loan Fraud Lawyers
You got a PPP loan in 2020. Maybe 2021. Back when the government was handing out money to keep businesses alive and nobody was asking too many questions. You filled out the application, got approved, used the funds. Years passed. You watched the headlines about PPP fraud cases and thought - that's other people. That's the big schemes. That's not me.
It's not over.
The federal government has spent the last four years building an assembly line to prosecute PPP fraud - and Queens County is directly in the crosshairs. The Eastern District of New York covers Queens, and they just charged defendants in the largest pandemic relief fraud scheme in United States history. A tax preparer from South Richmond Hill was sentenced to federal prison in May 2025. Congress extended the statute of limitations to 10 years. Your 2020 loan is prosecutable until 2030.
Welcome to Spodek Law Group. We handle federal PPP loan fraud defense for Queens County residents facing investigation or prosecution in the Eastern District of New York. If you've received a letter from the SBA Office of Inspector General, if federal agents have contacted you, or if you're seeing local names in the headlines and wondering whether you're next - this article explains what's happening and what options exist.
The Government Is Using Preparer Records to Find You
Most people think the PPP fraud prosecution wave already passed. The big cases were years ago. If the government was coming, they would have come by now.
Thats not how this works.
The government spent 2021-2024 taking down the infrastructure. The preparers. The scheme organizers. The fintechs that processed fraudulent applications. That phase is largely complete. Now they're using those seized records to systematicaly find everyone who used those services. If you used a tax preparer or loan broker who was later prosecuted, your file exists somewhere.
Heres the thing that changes everything:
Through December 31, 2024, federal prosecutors had charged 3,096 defendants with pandemic relief fraud. The conviction rate is 97.4%. Of those convicted, 81% received prison time. Over 130,000 PPP loans have been identified as problematic - 54,000 referred to the Office of Inspector General for likely fraud, another 77,000 escalated for additional review.
And Congress gave them a decade to work through that pile. In August 2022, President Biden signed legislation extending the statute of limitations from 5 years to 10 years - retroactively. A 2020 PPP loan is prosecutable until 2030. A 2021 loan until 2031. The government has time. They're using it.
If your name is connected to any of those flagged loans or any of those prosecuted preparers, you wont know until the letter arrives. The investigation is already happening.
Queens Is in the Federal Crosshairs
The Eastern District of New York covers Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and all of Long Island. Its one of the busiest and most agressive federal districts in the country for white-collar prosecution. And Queens residents keep showing up in the headlines.
Baltej Singh Brar, South Richmond Hill, Queens.
In May 2025, Brar was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison. He ran Aspire Tax & Accounting Services and advertised PPP loan services on TikTok. He filed hundreds of fraudulent applications on behalf of clients, inflating there eligibility or filing for people who wernt eligible at all. Total losses to the SBA: at least $550,000.
Every single client whose application he falsified is now in a database somewhere. Those records were seized. There being reviewed.
Jamie Burke, St. Albans, Queens.
A defense attorney. Charged with bilking the PPP and SBA disaster loan programs out of $287,000 with bogus claims about paying workers at a St. Albans realty company. Bank records showed she made numerous cash withdrawals from the COVID loan funds. Some of the money went to gambling.
Gelpys Joel Peralta-Gutierrez, Queensbridge Houses.
Indicted for $1.7 million in PPP fraud. He submitted an application claiming he employed 62 employees with a monthly payroll of nearly $700,000. The business address was a New York City Housing Authority apartment. In reality, his business had one employee and approximately $50,000 in total annual revenue.
The Largest ERC Scheme in US History.
In January 2025, the DOJ announced charges against seven individuals in what it called the largest Employee Retention Credit fraud scheme ever prosecuted. Among the defendants: Jamari Lewis of Queens and Ewendra Mathurin of Queens Village. The scheme claimed over $600 million in fraudulent pandemic relief. Several defendants also filed fraudulent PPP loan applications.
Even law enforcement wasnt immune. Two NYPD detectives were charged for there involvement in a separate PPP fraud scheme.
Queens is not behind the prosecution wave. Its at the center.
The Window Before Criminal Charges
There is a window. Most people dont know it exists.
Between when the SBA Office of Inspector General flags a loan and when the case gets referred to the FBI for criminal investigation, theres typically a period of six to twelve months. During this window, outcomes are dramatically differant.
At the OIG stage, civil resolution may be possible. Repayment plus penalties. Maybe a False Claims Act settlement. Its not pleasant - but its not a federal felony conviction either. You keep your right to vote. You dont check the box on every job application for the rest of you're life. You dont go to prison.
Once the FBI gets the case, that option largely disappears.
Heres the counter-argument. With 11 million PPP loans issued and only 3,096 defendants charged, the statistical odds of prosecution are low. The government doesnt have the resources to go after everyone. Most people who commited some level of PPP fraud will never face consequences.
But thats the wrong frame.
The 97.4% conviction rate means IF you're charged, you're almost certainly going to prison. The question isnt overall probability - its whether you're specific loan is already in that pile of 130,000+ flagged applications. Whether you're preparer's client list has been seized. Whether your name came up in someone elses investigation.
You have no way of knowing. The only safe assumption is that you might already be flagged.
And waiting makes everything worse. Defendants sentenced in 2024-2025 are recieving sentences 40% longer than defendants sentenced in 2021-2022 for identical conduct. The early pandemic leniency is completley over. Federal judges now include prison time in nearly every PPP fraud sentencing - regardless of the amount involved. A Cincinnati defendant got 18 months for $21,000 in PPP fraud.
One PPP application can trigger five separate 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
Theoretical exposure exceeding 100 years from a single application. Charge stacking gives prosecutors enormous leverage in plea negotiations.
What to Do Right Now
The single most important rule:
Never talk to federal investigators without a lawyer present.
This sounds obvious. But there have been multiple recent cases where people who decided to cooperate with investigators without counsel ended up charged with obstruction or making false statements to federal agents - in addition to the underlying PPP fraud. The investigator call sounds friendly. Cooperative. They're building a case.
This isn't paranoia. Its pattern recognition.
If you're concerned about a PPP loan:
- Don't destroy any documents. Document destruction can become a separate 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 legal counsel. The DOJ has explicitly stated that voluntary repayment can be used as evidence of 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 Eastern District of New York. He understands the difference between OIG-stage investigations where civil resolution may still be possible, and FBI-stage investigations where criminal defense is the priority.
When You're Ready
If you're in Queens County and facing a PPP loan fraud investigation - or you're worried that you might be - 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 where civil resolution might work? 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 EDNY?
Call us at 212-300-5196. The statute of limitations runs until 2030 or 2031. The government has time. But once they move, things happen fast. The earlier you have counsel, the more leverage exists.
The prosecution phase has shifted. Queens is in the crosshairs. Don't wait until federal agents are at your door.
Were here when you need us.
