SBA is working with a number of federal agencies to coordinate a response and proactively implement safeguards to prevent future abuse of similar programs that were so critical to small businesses in need.
A new report from the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis shows the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) revealed third-party and fin-tech companies were the ones with the most occurrences of facilitating fraud for the PPP.
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) weighed in on the House report, pointing to the seriousness of the problems of fraud, particularly for programs designed to help small-business owners across the country.
Among these extra efforts to address PPP crime, the SBA said it would be launching an investigation into a number of lenders, as well as individuals and other related entities, named in the report.
Looking ahead, the SBA and House Select Subcommittee said they will both continue taking corrective action to address the fraud and weak controls exposed at the onset of COVID and the PPP. SBA and House leaders are already committed to working with several federal partner agencies, including: the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the U.S. Dept. of the Treasury, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve and its Board, as well as the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
The coalition’s objective is simple: “…to ensure all federal financial regulators are coordinated in their efforts and responses to wrongdoing by lenders and PPP beneficiaries.”