South Dakota PPP Loan Fraud Lawyers

You got your PPP loan in 2020. It's 2025 now. You think the statute of limitations is almost up, right? You're wrong. You're barely past the halfway point. Congress extended the statute of limitations from five years to ten years in August 2022 - after most loans were already made. That means a loan you got in April 2020 can be prosecuted until April 2030. And if you applied for forgiveness in 2021, the clock resets. Your prosecution window could extend all the way to 2031.

The pandemic ended in 2023. The PPP program shut down in 2021. Most people think PPP fraud enforcement is winding down. The reality is the opposite. The SBA has flagged over 130,000 loans for potential fraud but has prosecuted only 3,096 defendants as of December 2024. That's a 2.4% prosecution rate. The other 97.6% are sitting in a queue. The enforcement wave hasn't peaked. It hasn't even started.

Welcome to Spodek Law Group. Our goal is to give you the truth about PPP loan fraud in South Dakota - not the sanitized version you find on other websites. What we're about to explain will change how you see your situation. The timeline you thought you understood is wrong. The protections you thought existed don't. And the decisions you're about to make could determine whether you spend the next decade in federal prison or not.

The 10-Year Statute You Didn't Know Existed - And How It Resets to 2031

Here's what most people don't understand about PPP loan fraud prosecutions. The statute of limitations isnt five years anymore. It was five years when you got your loan in 2020. It was five years when you applied for forgiveness in 2021. Then Congress changed it. The PPP and Bank Fraud Enforcement Harmonization Act of 2022 extended the statute to ten years, retroactively. That law was signed by President Biden on August 5, 2022.

You probably think that's unconstitutional. It sounds like an ex post facto law - punishing you for something that wasnt illegal when you did it. But heres the thing. PPP fraud was always illegal. Wire fraud under 18 USC 1343 has been illegal for decades. What Congress changed wasnt the crime. They changed how long prosecutors have to charge you. And because the original five-year statute hadnt expired yet when they extended it in 2022, courts have said its constitutional.

So if you got your PPP loan in April 2020, prosecutors have until April 2030 to charge you. Thats five more years from now. Your not close to being in the clear. Your still in the danger zone.

But it gets worse. If you applied for loan forgiveness, that application is treated as a separate fraudulent act with its own statute of limitations clock. Say you got your loan in May 2020 and applied for forgiveness in March 2021. Your statute doesnt run until March 2031 - because the forgiveness application was your "last fraudulent act." The clock resets.

Think about what that means. Its January 2025. You got your loan almost five years ago. You think your safe becuase most statutes of limitations are five years. Actually, you still have six years of prosecution exposure ahead of you. The window you're standing in is ten years long, and you're only four years into it.

Most people have no idea this change happened. Defense attorneys know. Prosecutors definately know. But clients walk in thinking they're almost out of the woods because it's been four or five years. Then we have to explain the timeline. The looks on their faces when they realize the truth is something you don't forget.

The SBA and DOJ know exactly what they're doing. They didn't have the capacity to investigate and prosecute 11.8 million PPP loans in real time. The program was designed for speed, not fraud prevention. So they flagged suspicious loans during the program, then extended the statute of limitations afterward to give themselves a decade to work through the backlog. Its a retroactive enforcement mechanism. And its completely legal.

130,000 Flagged Loans, 3,096 Prosecutions - The Queue You're Standing In

The SBA has flagged more than 130,000 PPP loans for potential fraud. As of December 2024, federal prosecutors had criminally charged approximately 3,096 defendants in PPP fraud cases. Do the math. Thats 2.4% of the flagged loans. What happened to the other 97.6%? They are sitting in a queue waiting for review.

The SBA uses something called "hold code 70" to flag loans for potential fraud. If your loan gets tagged with hold code 70, your not notified. Theres no letter. No email. No phone call. You only find out when your forgiveness application gets denied, or when federal agents show up at your door, or when you get a target letter in the mail saying the Department of Justice is investigating you.

Right now, the SBA has 37,938 loans flagged with hold code 70 for potential clawback. Those loans total aproximately $4.6 billion. The SBA hasn't even completed its review process for most of them. According to there own reports, they've only completed the first two steps of a four-step review process. Steps three and four - finalizing review decisions and facilitating recovery of improper payments - havent happened yet. The SBA estimates closing this backlog by September 30, 2025, "assuming adequate resources are available."

Translation: the review process is still ongoing. The investigations are still opening. The prosecutions are still coming.

A lot of people hear about PPP fraud cases from 2021 and 2022 and think enforcement has slowed down. It's actually accelerating. In 2025, the SBA suspended 6,900 borrowers in Minnesota alone for approximately 7,900 PPP and EIDL loans worth around $400 million. Those borrowers are now banned from all SBA loan programs going forward, and every case is being referred to federal law enforcement for potential prosecution.

Todd Spodek has handled federal fraud cases for years, and one thing he tells every client is this: federal agencies work slowly, but they don't stop. The fact that your loan was four years ago doesnt mean your safe. It means your deeper into the ten-year window. And if the SBA flagged your loan, that flag doesn't go away. It sits in their system until someone reviews it.

What Triggers Hold Code 70?

• Applying for multiple PPP loans from different lenders
• Making false statements on loan applications about payroll costs, number of employees, or whether your business existed
• Using PPP funds for purposes other than payroll, rent, and utilities
• Round-number loan amounts that look fabricated
• Businesses that didnt exist before the pandemic
• Inconsistent tax filings

And once you're flagged, you're in the queue. The queue moves slow. But it moves. And when it gets to you, investigators don't call to give you a heads-up. They call to ask questions. There already building a case. The investigation started when your loan was flagged, not when they contact you. By the time they reach out, they've already reviewed your application, your banking records, your tax returns, and probably talked to your lender. They're not investigating whether you committed fraud. There investigating how much fraud you comitted and what charges to bring.

This is were people make the first critical mistake. They think cooperating helps. It dosent. Your cooperation becomes evidence. Well explain that trap in detail later, but for now, understand this: if federal agents contact you about PPP fraud, your already past the investigation phase. Your in the prosecution phase. And everything you say is being documented for use against you at trial.

Why Paying Back the Loan Makes Your Case Worse, Not Better

Here's something almost no one understands until it's too late. Paying back your PPP loan doesnt make the fraud go away. In fact, it can make your case worse.

You hear about PPP fraud prosecutions and you panic. You check your records. You realize the numbers on your application weren't accurate. Maybe you inflated payroll costs. Maybe you claimed employees who didnt exist. Maybe the business wasnt operating the way you said it was. So you think, "Ill just pay it back. That fixes it, right?"

Wrong.

The fraud was committed when you submitted the false application, not when you kept the money. Paying it back now doesnt erase the crime. And prosecutors know exacty why you paid it back. You paid it back becuase you realized you were caught. Thats called "consciousness of guilt" in legal terms, and its evidence they use against you.

At Spodek Law Group, weve seen this play out in case after case. Client hears about PPP prosecutions. Client panics and pays back the loan. Client thinks there safe. Then federal agents show up anyway. And at trial, prosecutors point to the repayment and say, "Look, the defendant knew the loan was fraudulent. Thats why they paid it back when they heard about our investigation. Consciousness of guilt."

Even at sentencing, repayment doesn't help the way you think it will. Judges routinely say, "You only paid it back when you got caught. That doesn't show remorse. That shows you knew it was fraud all along and tried to cover it up when enforcement started." We've seen judges deny sentencing reductions for restitution when the repayment came after the investigation started.

The Small Loan Myth

The same logic applies to the loan amount. People think, "Its only $20,000. They wont prosecute me for such a small amount." That's not how federal prosecutors see it. There prosecuting $10,000 loans. $15,000 loans. $20,000 loans. In South Dakota, Joshua Booth got 18 months in federal prison for a $20,833 PPP loan. He was 27 years old. He created a fake cleaning service called "Booth cleaning service" in Sioux Falls. The business didnt exist. He submitted a fraudulent IRS Schedule C form with false income statements. He got the $20,833 loan and used it for personal purposes. He pled guilty in January 2024 after being indicted in August 2023. Sentenced to 18 months.

Read that again. $20,833. 18 months in federal prison. The amount didnt protect him. The DOJ wanted to send a message: no amount is too small. Fraud is fraud.

Chief Judge Roberto Lange in the District of South Dakota has sentenced multiple PPP fraud defendants to prison time even for loans under $25,000. The message from South Dakota federal court is clear - dollar amount dosent matter. The crime is the same wheather you stole $20,000 or $2 million. The sentencing might vary, but prison time is on the table for any amount.

Compare that to larger cases. Richard Nieto in Colorado submitted three fraudulent PPP applications seeking $1.1 million total. He was successful in obtaining two loans totaling $913,551. Sentence: 46 months federal prison plus $962,438.85 in restitution. That works out to roughly one month of federal prison for every $20,000 in fraudulent funds actually recieved. Joshua Booth got 18 months for $20,833. The math is consistent.

So if you think paying back the loan protects you, or if you think the amount is too small to prosecute, your wrong on both counts. The fraud happened when you submitted false statements to obtain the loan. The money is evidence of the fraud, but keeping it or returning it dosent change whether the crime was committed. And prosecutors are going after every loan amount, from $10,000 to $10 million.

The South Dakota Cases - When Fraud Investigators Commit Fraud

Steven Knigge spent years investigating fraud. He worked as a fraud investigator for the South Dakota Department of Revenue. His job was catching people who committed fraud against the state. Then in April 2021, at age 77, he committed PPP fraud himself.

The irony is almost unbelievable. Knigge submitted a fraudulent PPP application claiming to own a residential remodeling business that didnt exist. The banking and W-2 documents he submitted were completly fabricated. He received the $20,833 loan and immediately withdrew nearly the entire amount in cash. But the PPP fraud wasnt Knigges only crime. He also deposited seven fraudulent checks totaling aproximately $200,000 into accounts at Med5 Federal Credit Union, Wells Fargo Bank, Black Hills Federal Credit Union, and Highmark Federal Credit Union.

Steven Knigge was sentenced in July 2024. A man who spent his career investigating fraud became the defendant in a fraud case. If that doesnt tell you that PPP prosecutions are serious in South Dakota, nothing will.

Joshua Booth is the case we mentioned earlier. 27 years old. Sioux Falls. Fake cleaning business. $20,833 loan. 18 months in prison. Booth applied for the loan in May 2021 through Fountainhead, a third-party lender. He claimed to operate a "Booth cleaning service" in Sioux Falls. The business didnt exist. He included a fake IRS Schedule C form with false income statements, knowing the documents were fraudulent. He used the $20,833 for personal purposes. He was indicted in August 2023, pled guilty in January 2024, and was sentenced to 18 months.

James Bunker is the most serious pending case in South Dakota right now. Bunker is 52 years old, from Sioux Falls. He faces 16 counts of fraud-related crimes connected to both the Paycheck Protection Program and the Main Street Lending Program. According to prosecutors, his fraud spanned from June 2020 through July 2021 and totaled over $2 million.

The Main Street Lending Program is rarely prosecuted compared to PPP, which makes Bunkers case unusual. If convicted, he could face decades in federal prison. And heres were asset forfeiture comes in - Bunker would have to forfeit four properties in Sioux Falls plus $20,000 in cash. The properties are evidence of proceeds from the fraud, so the government can seize them even if there not directly purchased with PPP funds.

These cases show the range of PPP prosecutions in South Dakota. Small loans like Booths $20,833. Large-scale fraud like Bunkers $2 million. And the bizarre irony of Knigge, the fraud investigator who became the fraudster. What they all have in common is this: the federal court in South Dakota dosent dismiss these cases as minor or overlook them. Chief Judge Roberto Lange has made it clear that fraud is fraud, regardless of amount or circumstance.

Todd Spodek always tells clients facing federal charges: federal judges want to send a message. Thats especially true in PPP cases. The pandemic created a sense that everyone was taking advantage of emergency programs, so judges are imposing sentences designed to deter others. Even first-time offenders with no criminal history are getting prison time. The federal sentencing guidelines treat PPP fraud the same as any other federal fraud. Amount of loss matters for calculating the guideline range, but acceptance of responsibility, criminal history, and the need for deterrence all factor in.

South Dakota operates as a single federal judicial district, which means all federal cases from across the entire state funnel through the U.S. Attorney's office in Sioux Falls. U.S. Attorney Alison Ramsdell, appointed in April 2022, oversees prosecution of federal crimes statewide. Her office is prosecuting PPP fraud aggressively, and the message is consistent: we're coming after every case, regardless of loan amount, and we're seeking prison time even for first-time offenders.

Asset Forfeiture Is a Separate War - Why You Might Need Two Attorneys

Most people think PPP fraud is one legal problem. Criminal charges. Get a defense attorney. Fight the case or negotiate a plea. Done.

Wrong. Asset forfeiture is a separate legal proceeding. Its not part of your criminal case. Its a civil case against your property. You might need two attorneys - one for the criminal charges, one for the forfeiture case. And the forfeiture case can move forward even if the criminal charges are dismissed or you're acquitted.

Federal law gives prosecutors two forfeiture mechanisms. Civil forfeiture under 18 USC 981(a)(1)(C) and criminal forfeiture under 18 USC 982(a)(1). Civil forfeiture is a case against the property itself, not against you personally. The case title is literally "United States v. $20,833 in U.S. Currency" or "United States v. 2019 Tesla Model 3." The government dosent have to prove you committed a crime beyond a reasonable doubt. They only have to prove by a preponderance of the evidence - more likely than not - that the property is connected to fraud.

Criminal forfeiture is part of your sentencing if your convicted. The court orders you to forfeit any property involved in the offense or traceable to property involved in the offense. That means:

• If you used PPP funds for a down payment on a house, they can put a lien on the house
• If you bought a car with PPP money, they can seize the car
• If you paid off credit cards with PPP funds, they can go after whatever you bought with those credit cards

Here's where it gets complicated. The forfeiture case is separate from the criminal case. Even if your found not guilty in the criminal trial, the government can still pursue civil forfeiture of the property. The burden of proof is lower in civil court. And civil forfeiture cases can move faster than criminal cases. We've seen situations were the government seizes property through civil forfeiture before the criminal trial even starts. Your fighting two battles at the same time.

Some people try to settle the forfeiture case separately. They negotiate to keep 70-80% of assets in exchange for giving the government 20-30% without a fight. This preserves assets to pay your criminal defense attorney and keeps some financial stability during the criminal case. But settlement depends on the governments willingness to negotiate, and that varies by case.

In James Bunkers case - the Sioux Falls man facing 16 counts for over $2 million in fraud - prosecutors are seeking forfeiture of four properties in Sioux Falls plus $20,000 in cash. Those properties werent necessarily purchased directly with PPP funds. But if the government can show that Bunker used PPP fraud proceeds to maintain or improve the properties, or to make mortgage payments, the properties are traceable to the fraud and subject to forfeiture.

The same rule applies to luxury purchases. If you bought a boat, a car, jewelry, or any high-value item with PPP funds, its subject to forfeiture. Even if you sold the item, the government can go after the proceeds from the sale. The statute allows forfeiture of property "involved in the offense or traceable to property involved in the offense." That language gives prosecutors alot of reach.

At Spodek Law Group, we've handled cases where clients didn't realize the forfeiture issue until their bank account was frozen. The government files a civil forfeiture complaint, and suddenly, your assets are locked. You cant access the money to pay your criminal defense attorney. You can't make mortgage payments. Your financial life is paralyzed while you fight both the criminal case and the forfeiture case.

This is were early legal intervention matters. If you know an investigation is coming, or if youve already been contacted by federal agents, you need to address both the criminal exposure and the forfeiture risk. Some assets can be protected through negotiation. Some cant. But waiting until assets are seized makes everything harder.

One critical point: don't try to hide or transfer assets after you learn about an investigation. That creates obstruction charges or money laundering charges on top of the fraud. If you transfer property to a family member or sell assets below market value to "protect" them, prosecutors will argue your obstructing justice. We've seen people turn a manageable fraud case into a disaster by trying to move assets around after learning about an investigation.

When Your Loan Preparer Gets Arrested - Why You're Next on the List

In December 2025, a co-founder of a lender service provider was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison. His company had processed over 530 fraudulent PPP loans causing over $65 million in losses. When he was arrested, federal agents seized his client list. Every single client on that list became an investigation target.

Heres what people dont understand about loan preparers. If the preparer gets arrested for PPP fraud, your not in the clear becuase "the preparer did it." Your on the client list the FBI just seized. Your application is now evidence in the preparers case. And your name is on a list of people who potentially benefited from the preparers fraud scheme.

Every one of those clients is a separate potential defendant. The preparer might have created the false documents, but you signed the application. You certified that the information was true and correct. You received the money. In the eyes of federal prosecutors, you're liable for fraud even if the preparer did all the work.

This is playing out in cases across the country. Preparers get arrested. Federal agents seize there computers, there files, there client lists. Then investigators start working through the list. They contact clients and ask questions. "Did you know the payroll numbers were inflated?" "Did you actually have that many employees?" "What did you use the money for?" Clients think they're cooperating. Actually, there building the case against themselves.

Twenty-four defendants in one recent case all thought the preparer would take the blame. They all thought they were just getting a service. They all thought if anything went wrong, the preparer would face the charges. All twenty-four got charged. Some pled guilty. Some went to trial. None of them walked away becuase "the preparer did it."

At Spodek Law Group, we tell clients: the preparers arrest is the beginning of an investigation that includes you. Your application is evidence. Your payment is evidence. Your signatures are evidence. You signed the certification stating that all information was true and correct to the best of your knowledge. That signature makes you responsible, not the preparer.

The Cooperation Trap

The most common mistake clients make is talking to federal agents without a lawyer when there contacted about the preparer. The agents show up or call and say, "Were investigating the preparer who handled your PPP loan. We just want to ask you a few questions about the application process." It sounds friendly. It sounds like your helping them build a case against the preparer.

Your not helping them. Your giving them evidence to use against you. Every answer you give is being documented. If you say something inconsistent with your application, thats evidence of false statements. If you admit you didnt review the application carefully, thats evidence of recklessness. If you say you trusted the preparer to fill it out correctly, thats not a defense - your still responsible for what you signed.

And heres the trap: if you lie to a federal agent during this "friendly conversation," you've just committed a separate crime under 18 USC 1001 - making false statements to a federal agent. That carries up to five years in prison. We've seen people get charged with obstruction or false statements to investigators on top of the underlying PPP fraud, all becuase they talked without a lawyer and said something inconsistent or untrue.

Another mistake: deleting communications with the preparer. Once you know there's an investigation, dont delete text messages, emails, or documents. If you destroy evidence after learning about an investigation, your facing obstruction charges on top of the fraud. Obstruction under 18 USC 1512 carries up to 20 years in prison - often worse penalties than the underlying fraud.

The bottom line: if your loan preparer gets arrested, assume your next. Dont talk to investigators. Dont delete anything. Dont try to "cooperate" your way out of it. Get a federal criminal defense attorney before any contact with law enforcement. The preparer's arrest means the investigation has already started, and your on the list.

The Three Mistakes That Turn Investigation Into Conviction

Federal prosecutors have a 90% conviction rate in fraud cases. That dosent mean there cases are always airtight. It means defendants make mistakes that turn investigations into convictions. Here are the three biggest.

Mistake #1: Talking to Federal Agents Without an Attorney

This is the number one mistake. Federal agents contact you about your PPP loan. They sound friendly. They say there "just trying to understand what happened." They tell you "cooperation helps." You think, "I didnt do anything wrong, so Ill just explain."

Everything you say becomes evidence. The agents aren't there to help you. There there to build a case. And anything you say can and will be used against you - not just in court, but in plea negotiations and sentencing.

Even if you tell the truth, your words can be twisted. You say, "The preparer filled out most of the application." Prosecutors hear: "I didnt review the application carefully." You say, "I wasnt sure about some of the numbers." Prosecutors hear: "I knew the numbers were false." You say, "I used some of the money for personal expenses because the business and personal accounts were mixed." Prosecutors hear: "I knowingly misused PPP funds."

And if you make a false statement - even accidentally, even about something minor - you've committed a separate federal crime under 18 USC 1001. Making false statements to federal agents carries up to five years in prison. We've seen clients turn a weak fraud case into a strong obstruction case by talking without a lawyer.

The correct response when federal agents contact you: "I need to speak with my attorney before answering any questions." Then call Spodek Law Group at 212-300-5196. Dont say anything else. Not "I didnt do anything wrong." Not "Can you tell me what this is about?" Just: "I need to speak with my attorney."

Mistake #2: Deleting Evidence

You hear about PPP fraud investigations. You panic. You delete text messages with your loan preparer. You throw away documents. You "clean up" your records. You think your protecting yourself.

Your committing obstruction of justice. 18 USC 1512. Up to 20 years in prison. Obstruction charges often carry worse penalties than the underlying fraud.

Federal investigators can recover deleted texts, emails, and files. When they do, they dont just see the evidence you tried to hide. They see that you tried to hide it. That becomes evidence of consciousness of guilt. It shows you knew the loan was fraudulent, and you tried to cover it up when enforcement started.

We've seen cases were clients had a decent defense to the fraud charges - maybe the preparer really did mislead them, maybe there was a legitimate mistake in the application - but then they deleted evidence and destroyed any credibility they had. Judges dont believe your innocent if you destroyed evidence. Juries dont believe it either.

If your worried about an investigation, dont touch anything. Dont delete. Dont shred. Dont alter. Preserve everything exactly as it is. Your attorney will figure out what helps and what hurts, but you cant make that determination yourself. Destroying evidence is almost always worse than whatever the evidence shows.

Mistake #3: Assuming Cooperation Will Help

Prosecutors love cooperation. It gives them evidence to use against you and against other defendants. But cooperation rarely helps the person cooperating as much as they think it will.

The cooperation trap works like this: federal agents contact you. They say, "We know the preparer was running a fraud scheme. If you cooperate and tell us what happened, we can help you." You think, "Ill cooperate, show Im not a bad person, and theyll go easy on me."

You sit down for a proffer session. You tell them everything. You explain how the preparer filled out the application. You admit you didnt review it carefully. You acknowledge you used some of the money for personal expenses. You think you're helping yourself by being honest.

What you actually did: you confessed to federal crimes. Everything you said in that proffer can be used against you if you don't reach a plea agreement. You gave prosecutors the evidence they need to convict you at trial. And now your options are: plead guilty to whatever they offer, or go to trial with your own confession as the prosecutions star evidence.

Sometimes cooperation does help. If you have information about other defendants - higher-level fraud, other participants in the scheme - prosecutors might offer a meaningful sentencing reduction in exchange for testimony. But cooperation dosent make the charges go away. It doesn't mean you avoid prison. It means you might get less time than you would have without cooperation.

At Spodek Law Group, we evaluate cooperation opportunities carefully. Is there a genuine benefit? What are you giving up? What are you getting in return? Sometimes cooperation makes sense. Often, it dosent. But you should never make that decision without a lawyer who understands federal sentencing and can negotiate the terms.

The three mistakes - talking without an attorney, deleting evidence, and cooperating without strategy - are how investigations turn into convictions. Federal prosecutors have the resources to investigate PPP fraud cases thoroughly. They have forensic accountants. They have banking records. They have your application. What they dont always have is your confession. Dont give it to them.

What To Do If You're Contacted About PPP Loan Fraud in South Dakota

If federal agents contact you about your PPP loan, your already past the investigation phase. Your in the prosecution phase. The investigation started when your loan was flagged, not when they reached out. By the time they contact you, theyve already reviewed your application, your banking records, your tax returns, and probly talked to your lender. There not trying to figure out if you committed fraud. There trying to figure out what charges to bring and what evidence they can get from you.

Here's what you need to do immediately.

Step 1: Do Not Talk to Federal Agents Without an Attorney

This is the most important step. When agents contact you - whether they show up at your home, call you on the phone, or send a letter - do not answer questions. Say this: "I need to speak with my attorney before answering any questions." Then stop talking.

Do not try to explain. Do not try to "clear things up." Do not say, "I didnt do anything wrong." Just: "I need to speak with my attorney." Then contact Spodek Law Group at 212-300-5196.

Step 2: Do Not Delete or Alter Any Documents

Preserve everything exactly as it is. Text messages with your loan preparer. Emails. Bank statements. Tax returns. The original PPP application and forgiveness application. Do not delete. Do not shred. Do not alter. If you destroy evidence after learning about an investigation, your facing obstruction charges that could carry worse penalties than the fraud itself.

Step 3: Do Not Discuss the Case With Anyone Except Your Attorney

Do not talk to family members about the details. Do not talk to business partners. Do not post on social media. Anything you say to anyone other than your attorney can be discovered and used against you. Spousal privilege protects some communications with your spouse, but not all. Attorney-client privilege protects everything you tell your lawyer. Keep it there.

Step 4: Understand the Timeline

You have more prosecution exposure than you think. If you got your loan in 2020, prosecutors have until 2030 to charge you. If you applied for forgiveness in 2021, they have until 2031. The fact that its been four or five years dosent mean your in the clear. Your still deep in the ten-year window.

Step 5: Understand the Consequences

PPP fraud is a federal crime. Wire fraud under 18 USC 1343 carries up to 20 years in prison. Bank fraud under 18 USC 1344 carries up to 30 years. Making false statements under 18 USC 1001 carries up to 5 years. Asset forfeiture is a separate proceeding that can seize your property even if your not convicted. The federal conviction rate is over 90%. If your charged, your facing serious prison time and financial ruin.

Step 6: Call Spodek Law Group

Todd Spodek has handled federal fraud cases for years. Hes represented clients in PPP fraud investigations, negotiations with federal prosecutors, and trials. Our office is in the Woolworth Building in Manhattan, but we handle federal cases nationwide, including South Dakota. Federal court is federal court wheather its in Manhattan or Sioux Falls. The same statutes apply. The same sentencing guidelines apply. And the same defense strategies apply.

We understand how PPP fraud cases work. We know the timeline. We know the statutes. We know the prosecutors strategies. We know when cooperation makes sense and when it dosent. We know how to negotiate asset forfeiture. We know how to evaluate plea offers. And we know when to take a case to trial.

Our goal is to protect your rights and your future. That starts with understanding your situation - the charges your facing, the evidence against you, the timeline of prosecution exposure, and the options available. Sometimes we can negotiate a resolution that avoids prison. Sometimes we can get charges reduced. Sometimes we fight the case at trial. Every case is different.

But here's what doesnt change: the earlier you get a lawyer involved, the better your outcome. If you wait untill your indicted, your options are limited. If you talk to agents before getting a lawyer, you might have already given them the evidence they need. If you delete documents, you might have already committed obstruction. Early intervention gives us the most options to protect you.

Call us at 212-300-5196. The consultation is confidential. Well explain your situation, your exposure, and your options. Then youll have the information you need to make the right decision.

The PPP fraud enforcement wave hasnt ended. Its just beginning. 130,000 flagged loans. Only 3,096 prosecutions so far. The statute runs until 2030 or 2031, depending on when you got your loan and when you applied for forgiveness. If your loan is flagged, the investigation is coming. If your preparer got arrested, your on the list. If you used false information on your application, your at risk.

Dont wait for agents to show up. Don't wait for a target letter. Don't wait until you're indicted. If you have any reason to think your PPP loan might be under investigation, call us now. The decisions you make in the next few days could determine whether you spend the next decade in federal prison or not.

Spodek Law Group. 212-300-5196. Were based in New York, but we handle federal cases in South Dakota and nationwide. Call us before you talk to anyone else.