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The Small Business Administration (SBA) announced Friday that it has suspended more than 100,000 California borrowers amid allegations of fraud and abuse totaling approximately $9 billion.
SBA Director Kelly Loeffler said the agency suspended 111,620 California borrowers arrested for alleged fraud in all SBA loan programs during the pandemic. Those borrowers received 118,489 Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) loans totaling more than $8.6 billion.
“Once again, the Trump SBA is taking decisive action to bring accountability to a country whose unresponsive welfare policies have created a culture of fraud and abuse at the expense of law-abiding taxpayers and small business owners,” Loeffler said in a statement.
HOUSE REPUBLICANS CALL MINNESOTA FRAUD PROBE ‘TIP OF THE ICEBERG’ AS MORE BLUE STATES FACE Scrutiny
The Small Business Administration has suspended more than 100,000 California borrowers for nearly $9 billion for alleged loan fraud during the pandemic, SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler announced Friday. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
“Today, we announced that we have suspended approximately 112,000 borrowers who are owed at least $9 billion in alleged fraud,” he said. “This staggering number represents the most significant reduction of those who defrauded the pandemic programs, and highlights the level of corruption that the Biden administration has tolerated for years.”
Loeffler spoke about the Trump administration’s fraud in another green state, saying, “As we do in Minnesota, we are working diligently with law enforcement to identify criminals who defrauded the American taxpayer, arrest them, and recover the stolen funds.”
He added, “As we continue our work from state to state, our message is clear: pandemic fraudsters will not get a pass under this Administration.”
GOP SENATORS INTRODUCE TASK FORCE TO FAIL ON FRAUDSTER TIED TO MINNESOTA SCANDAL
Kelly Loeffler, director of the US Small Business Administration (SBA), during a news conference at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Monday, Oct. 27, 2025. (Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The announcement comes after the SBA last month suspended 6,900 Minnesotans after uncovering what it said was widespread suspected fraud.
The agency previously reviewed thousands of PPP and EIDL loans approved in Minnesota, identifying nearly $400 million in potentially fraudulent loans tied to borrowers.
That alleged transaction includes 7,900 PPP and EIDL loans approved during the COVID-19 crisis, according to Loeffler.
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SBA Director Kelly Loeffler said the agency has suspended more than 100,000 California borrowers accused of fraud in all of the pandemic loan programs. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
The SBA previously said at least $2.5 million in PPP and EIDL funds disbursed during the violence were linked to a Somalia-linked fraud scheme based in Minneapolis.
