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So your probably desperately trying to figure out exactly what penalties your facing for that PPP loan where you maybe weren’t completely honest. Maybe your hoping its just a fine you can pay and move on. Or maybe you think worst case scenario is a few months in jail and then life goes back to normal. Look, we get it. Your clinging to hope that the penalties aren’t as bad as everyone says. But here’s the devastating truth – PPP loan fraud carries MULTIPLE penalties that will destroy every aspect of your life: years in federal prison, millions in fines, lifetime restitution, and complete financial annihilation!
The criminal penalties for PPP fraud are absolutely catastrophic. Your not facing one penalty – your facing a whole menu of punishments that stack on top of each other. Wire fraud carries up to 20 years in federal prison. Bank fraud? That’s 30 YEARS in prison plus a $1 million fine! Making false statements to the SBA? Another 30 years! Money laundering? 20 years per count!
And here’s what’s really terrifying – these penalties RUN CONSECUTIVELY! If your convicted of wire fraud (20 years), bank fraud (30 years), and false statements (5 years), you could theoretically face 55 YEARS in federal prison! Obviously judges rarely max out sentences, but even 20% of that is 11 years behind bars!
The fines are equally devastating. We’re talking about up to $1 MILLION per charge! Got charged with 5 counts of wire fraud? That’s potentially $5 million in criminal fines! And these aren’t dischargeable in bankruptcy – you’ll be paying them for the rest of your life. The government will garnish your wages, seize your tax refunds, take your Social Security – whatever it takes to collect!
The federal sentencing guidelines are like a mathematical formula for destroying your life. They use a “loss table” that converts dollar amounts into “offense levels” which then determine your prison sentence. The bigger the fraud, the higher the level, the longer the sentence.
Here’s the terrifying breakdown: Fraud under $6,500 is level 6 (0-6 months). $150,000 to $250,000 jumps to level 16 (21-27 months). $550,000 to $1.5 million is level 20 (33-41 months). Over $25 million hits level 30 (97-121 months)! And that’s just the BASE level – they add points for “sophisticated means,” “abuse of position,” “obstruction of justice,” and other enhancements!
But wait, it gets worse! If you used fake documents? Add 2 levels. Multiple victims? Add 2 more. Organized scheme? Another 2. Were in a position of trust? 2 more levels. Before you know it, your level 16 becomes level 24, and your looking at 51-63 months instead of 21-27 months. The guidelines are specifically designed to hammer PPP fraudsters!
Think criminal penalties are bad? The civil penalties will finish destroying whatever the criminal case doesn’t take! Under the False Claims Act, the government can sue you for TRIPLE DAMAGES plus penalties up to $28,619 PER FALSE CLAIM!
Let’s do the horrifying math. You got a $50,000 fraudulent PPP loan? That’s $150,000 in triple damages PLUS $28,619 in penalties for a total of $178,619! Got multiple loans? Each one is a separate violation. Three $50,000 loans means $535,857 in civil liability! And this is ON TOP of criminal fines and restitution!
The False Claims Act is especially brutal because it doesn’t require criminal intent. Even if you “made a mistake” or “misunderstood the requirements,” you can still face civil liability. The government just has to prove the claims were false, not that you intended fraud. Its basically strict liability for hundreds of thousands in damages!
Restitution is MANDATORY in federal fraud cases – the judge has zero discretion under the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act. You WILL be ordered to pay back every penny you stole, plus interest, plus the government’s costs of investigation and prosecution!
Recent cases from 2025 show the brutal reality. Richard Nieto got $913,000 in PPP loans – his restitution order? $962,438! That’s $50,000 MORE than he stole because of interest and investigation costs! A Nevada man who got $11 million in PPP loans was ordered to pay $11,793,064 in restitution – almost $800,000 in additional costs!
And here’s the killer – restitution is NOT dischargeable in bankruptcy! It survives your death – your estate owes it! The government can garnish your wages for life, seize every tax refund, take your Social Security benefits, put liens on everything you’ll ever own. You’ll be paying this back until the day you die, and then your family inherits the debt!
On top of everything else, the government can and will SEIZE everything you bought with PPP money through civil asset forfeiture! That house you bought? Gone. The cars? Seized. Jewelry? Taken. Bank accounts? Frozen and emptied. Even things you bought with legitimate money can be seized if they’re “commingled” with fraud proceeds!
The Nevada man mentioned earlier? The court ordered forfeiture of $11,231,186 PLUS two vehicles and five properties! Another defendant had his house, three cars, boat, and entire retirement account seized. The government literally takes EVERYTHING connected to the fraud, even tangentially!
And civil forfeiture doesn’t require a criminal conviction! They can seize your assets while your case is pending, leaving you with nothing to pay for lawyers or support your family. We’ve seen clients become homeless because all there assets were seized before trial. The government uses asset forfeiture as a weapon to force guilty pleas!
Absolutely YES – you can and probably will face BOTH criminal and civil penalties for the same conduct! Its not double jeopardy because criminal and civil are considered different proceedings. So you go to federal prison, pay criminal fines, pay restitution, AND THEN face civil False Claims Act lawsuits!
We’re seeing defendants get destroyed from both directions. Criminal conviction with 5 years prison and $500,000 in fines, PLUS civil judgment for $1.5 million in triple damages and penalties. That’s prison time AND over $2 million in financial liability for one PPP loan! The government wants to punish you criminally AND recover every penny civilly!
Plus, different agencies can bring there own civil actions. The SBA can sue you. The Treasury can sue you. State agencies can sue you. Professional licensing boards can fine you. Its a full-scale assault from every direction designed to completely annihilate you financially!
Here’s something that’ll really terrify you – ANYONE can sue you as a whistleblower under the False Claims Act! Former employees, business partners, accountants, even family members can file “qui tam” lawsuits on behalf of the government. If they win, they get 15-25% of the recovery!
Think about what that means. Your disgruntled employee knows you lied on your PPP application? They can sue you for triple damages and collect potentially hundreds of thousands as there reward! Your ex-spouse wants revenge? They can destroy you with a whistleblower lawsuit and get paid for it!
These whistleblower suits are increasing exponentially. In fiscal year 2024, there were 979 qui tam lawsuits filed – a RECORD number! The government loves these cases because private citizens do the investigation work. And whistleblowers are motivated by those huge rewards. We’re seeing people report PPP fraud from years ago just for the money!
If you committed PPP fraud with others, your facing joint and several liability – meaning your responsible for the ENTIRE loss, not just your share! Three people conspired to get $500,000 in fraudulent loans but you only got $50,000? Too bad – you can be ordered to pay the full $500,000!
This is how the government ensures full recovery. They go after whoever has assets. Your co-conspirators are broke? You pay everything. They fled the country? You pay there share. They got better lawyers and weren’t convicted? You still pay for everyone. Joint and several liability means the last person standing pays for everything!
We had a client who was a minor participant in a $2 million fraud scheme. He only got $75,000. But his co-defendants were judgment proof, so the court ordered HIM to pay the entire $2 million in restitution! His house, retirement, everything was taken to satisfy the judgment. Joint and several liability is absolutely brutal!
The penalties for PPP fraud don’t end when you get out of prison – they last FOREVER! Criminal record? Permanent. Can never be expunged. Restitution? Lifetime obligation that survives bankruptcy and death. Civil judgments? Can be renewed indefinitely. Professional licenses? Permanently revoked. Security clearances? Gone forever.
Your credit is destroyed for life. Banks won’t lend to you. Employers won’t hire you with a federal fraud conviction. You can’t get government contracts, benefits, or programs. You can’t vote, own guns, or serve on juries. Some countries won’t even let you visit. The collateral consequences are literally permanent!
And the financial obligations NEVER end. 30 years from now, the government will still be garnishing your Social Security for restitution. Your retirement accounts will be seized. Your spouse’s assets can be taken for joint debts. Your children might inherit nothing because the government takes everything. One PPP fraud conviction creates lifetime penalties that destroy generations!
URGENT: PPP fraud penalties include 30 YEARS prison + $1 MILLION fines + TRIPLE damages + LIFETIME restitution!
Criminal AND civil penalties will destroy you financially forever!
Call 212-300-5196 IMMEDIATELY for protection from these devastating penalties!
Look, we’re not trying to scare you – we’re trying to save you from complete destruction. The penalties for PPP fraud aren’t just bad – there catastrophic. Your facing decades in federal prison, millions in fines, triple damages under the False Claims Act, mandatory restitution that follows you to the grave, asset forfeiture that takes everything you own, and civil lawsuits from whistleblowers seeking rewards.
These penalties stack, combine, and compound. Criminal plus civil plus restitution plus forfeiture equals complete financial annihilation. You’ll spend years in prison, then spend the rest of your life paying money you don’t have while being unable to get a decent job with a federal fraud conviction. Your family suffers, your future is destroyed, your legacy is ruined.
But there’s still hope if you act NOW with experienced federal defense attorneys who understand these penalties and how to minimize them. The difference between competent defense and no defense could be 10 years of your life and millions of dollars. Don’t wait until these penalties are imposed – by then its too late. Call us immediately at 212-300-5196 and let us fight to protect you from the devastating penalties that PPP fraud brings!
Very diligent, organized associates; got my case dismissed. Hard working attorneys who can put up with your anxiousness. I was accused of robbing a gemstone dealer. Definitely A law group that lays out all possible options and best alternative routes. Recommended for sure.
- ROBIN, GUN CHARGES ROBIN
NJ CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEYS