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AML/CFT Fraud Prevention Fraud Trends Lending & Credit Risk SBA Lending

Stopping PPP Fraud

Terri Luttrell, CAMS-Audit, CFCS
January 14, 2021
Read Time: 0 min

How Institutions Can Avoid Fraud Surprises in the Next Round of the PPP

BSA and fraud professionals saw a spike in PPP fraud during the first two rounds of funding. How can they be better prepared to prevent fraud in this next round?

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Takeaway 1

This round of PPP funding focuses on new borrowers in low- and moderate-income communities. 

Takeaway 2

The nature of PPP loans makes them more vulnerable to fraud and appealing to fraudsters.

Takeaway 3

The SBA has instituted more safeguards for this latest round of PPP funding to prevent fraud.

Stopping PPP Fraud in New Round of Funding

Third round of PPP funding is available for small businesses

There is no doubt that the COVID-19 global pandemic has challenged communities across the country and has created a significant economic downturn, which has hit small businesses especially hard. While individual stimulus checks and the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funding authorized by the CARES Act has helped, it has proven not to be enough to sustain our communities through this crisis.

As part of the new $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill, the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Non-Profits, and Venues Act (Economic Aid Act), Congress authorized round three of PPP funding. The Small Business Association (SBA) announced that the rollout for the third round of relief was available beginning Monday, January 11, 2021 for certain small businesses.  These funds are intended for new and smaller borrowers and for borrowers in low- and moderate-income communities.

PPP Fraud Spikes

Fraudsters target PPP loans

Small business owners aren’t the only ones eager to get their hands on additional PPP funds. The first round of PPP helped more than five million small businesses in the United States in the amount of $525 billion of funding, but not without a dark side to the program. Historically, federal relief funds have been highly targeted by fraudsters, and PPP loans are no exception. The nature of these loans makes them particularly susceptible to both misuse and fraud. During round one of PPP, bad actors surfaced at an unexpected rate, and financial crime divisions of community financial institutions struggled with the realization that loans that had rushed through funding may be fraudulent.

As of December 2020, the Department of Justice (DOJ) had filed at least 41 criminal complaints totaling approximately $62 million in fraudulent loans. Assets seized by the DOJ include luxury cars, Rolex watches, expensive watercraft, high-end jewelry, and large sums of cash. In addition, many employees of financial institutions are being investigated for possible involvement in the fraud. Cases resulted from all sizes of institutions and communities, no one was immune.

According to both the SBA and the Secret Service, these initial criminal complaints are just the “tip of the iceberg”.

What makes this fraud more heinous than most is that the relief was intended to assist those suffering from the effects of the pandemic and to help rebuild communities. Round two of PPP funding is targeting assistance for minority, underserved, veteran, and women-owned businesses, and it is critical that financial institutions do their part in preventing these funds from going to other than those intended. Red flags for identifying fraudulent PPP applications include:

  • Misuse of proceeds
  • Unqualified borrowers
  • New Employer Identification Numbers (EIN)
  • Shell corporations/dormant EINs
  • Recent business incorporations
  • Inflation of payroll
  • Large loan amounts
  • False statements on applications
  • Fraudulent supporting documents (e.g., payroll, tax forms)
  • Employee/employer collusion
  • Newly created and/or multiple bank accounts with abnormal transaction activity
  • Consumer accounts rather than business accounts
  • Rapid movement of money in and out of accounts
  • Withdrawals made via cash or apps (i.e., Cash App, Zelle)
  • Abnormal transaction activity for client
  • Transfers to overseas accounts known for poor anti-money laundering controls
  • Crime rings - multiple applications are submitted using phishing information

Financial institutions still have many questions regarding the steps they should take both to prevent fraud and protect themselves from liability, even as they face pressure to issue loans quickly. Although PPP loans are guaranteed by the SBA, one thing is certain, if a financial institution does not conduct sufficient due diligence on a PPP borrower and a fraudulent loan is funded, the bank may have risk exposure and possible financial loss. Now is the time to include lenders in PPP fraud specific training.

Stay on top of PPP Fraud with our complete PPP Fraud Detection Checklist.

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There are other risk factors to consider with PPP loans

In addition to possible hard dollar losses, financial institutions should consider other risk factors when allocating compliance resources to their PPP onboarding and portfolio due diligence:

  • Bad Debt Risks - Loan amounts not forgivable may have a higher level of default.
  • Operational Risks - Due diligence may have been lax during the rush of applications
  • Compliance Risks - Compliance gaps could occur due to rushed processing
  • Reputational Risks - What if fraud is found in your portfolio and headlines abound?

Additional Compliance Checks Required

SBA creates more safeguards against PPP fraud in latest round

The third round of PPP will have more safeguards against fraud prior to SBA approval. While financial institutions are required to follow Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) requirements and perform proper due diligence, the SBA will conduct additional compliance checks to assist in combatting extensive fraud in round three. These compliance checks will include verification of business existence prior to the pandemic and a scan to ensure no other PPP loan applications have recently been received to avoid loan stacking.

Financial institutions should follow all Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) requirements for fraud reporting and be sure to start the 30-day SAR clock as soon as fraud is detected. If a borrower does not comply with the PPP criteria and the loan is not forgiven, a SAR may be warranted for loans that are termed out.

In addition to filing a SAR, the federal government has asked that the following agencies be contacted immediately upon detecting PPP fraud:

Financial crimes units should work closely with lenders and senior management, enhancing training that includes PPP portfolio onboarding and monitoring. After funding it is equally important to perform CDD and transaction monitoring of these businesses. Following the use of funds may lead somewhere other than what is expected. The regulators will expect enhanced due diligence for round two since financial institutions now know what to expect. For further due diligence assistance, please see our Abrigo PPP Lookback Checklist.

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About the Author

Terri Luttrell, CAMS-Audit, CFCS

Compliance and Engagement Director
Terri Luttrell is a seasoned AML professional and former director and AML/OFAC officer with over 20 years in the banking industry, working both in medium and large community and commercial banks ranging from $2 billion to $330 billion in asset size.

Full Bio

About Abrigo

Abrigo enables U.S. financial institutions to support their communities through technology that fights financial crime, grows loans and deposits, and optimizes risk. Abrigo's platform centralizes the institution's data, creates a digital user experience, ensures compliance, and delivers efficiency for scale and profitable growth.

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