Criminal Defense Lawyers

Can You Still Be Prosecuted for a 2020 PPP Loan? The Answer Is Yes.

Yes. You can absolutley still be prosecuted for a 2020 PPP loan in 2025. If your reading this because you thought 5 years was the magic number that would make you safe, I need to tell you something important: that’s not how it works anymore. The rules changed, and most people never got the memo.

Look, I understand why your here. You got a PPP loan back in 2020 when the world was falling apart. Businesses were shutting down, people were getting sick, and the goverment was throwing money at anyone who applied. Maybe you made some mistakes on the application—inflated payroll numbers, overstated employee counts, used some funds for things that weren’t quite right. And now your thinking: “It’s been 5 years. Surely there’s some kind of statue of limitations that protects me by now?”

Here’s the thing—the rules changed in 2022, and that change effects you directly. The goverment now has 10 years, not 5, to prosecute PPP fraud. That means your 2020 loan is still fair game untill 2030. And 2025? We’re right in the middle of the most active enforcement period yet. Their not winding down. Their ramping up.

This article explains exactly why the 5-year assumption is dangerously wrong, what the goverment is actually doing right now in 2025, why your forgiven loan might have made things worse instead of better, and what you should do about all of this before its too late.

The 5-Year Myth: Why Your Assumption Was Completley Wrong

Lets talk about where this 5-year idea came from, because its not completley made up—it just doesn’t apply the way you think it does. Understanding this is critical to understanding why your still at risk.

Wire fraud under 18 U.S.C. 1343 has traditionally had a 5-year statute of limitations. Since alot of PPP applications were submitted electronically—through online portals, via email, through digital banking systems—many people naturally assumed PPP fraud would be charged as wire fraud with that 5-year clock. If you got your loan in April 2020, you’d be clear by April 2025. Seems logical, right?

Wrong. Here’s what actually happened, and why it changed everything.

In August 2022, Congress passed two laws that fundamentaly altered the enforcement landscape: the PPP and Bank Fraud Enforcement Harmonization Act of 2022 and the COVID-19 EIDL Fraud Statute of Limitations Act of 2022. Both laws extended the prosecution window from 5 years to 10 years for PPP and EIDL fraud. President Biden signed both bills with strong bipartisan support.

Why did Congress do this? I mean, think about it from the goverment’s perspective for a moment. Bank fraud (18 U.S.C. 1344) has always had a 10-year statute of limitations. If you defrauded a bank, prosecutors had a full decade to come after you. But alot of PPP loans weren’t issued by traditional banks—they came from fintech lenders like Kabbage, BlueVine, Cross River, Lendio, and dozens of others. When the lender wasn’t technically a “bank” under federal law, prosecutors could only charge wire fraud with its 5-year limit.

This created a loophole that Congress found unacceptable. Someone who committed the exact same fraud—lying on a PPP application, submitting fake documents, spending money improperly—could face completley diffrent prosecution windows based off which lender they happened to use. A business owner who got there loan from Bank of America would face a 10-year clock. But a business owner who got the exact same loan, with the exact same fraud, from a fintech lender would only face a 5-year clock. That didn’t seem fair to anybody—especially the prosecutors who watched criminals escape justice on a technicality.

Congress closed that loophole by making ALL PPP fraud subject to a 10-year statute of limitations, irregardless of who issued the loan. The change applies retroactively to all pandemic-era loans. No grandfathering. No exceptions.

So here’s the math for your specific situation:

• If you got your loan in April 2020: Prosecutors have untill April 2030 to charge you
• If you got your loan in June 2020: Prosecutors have untill June 2030
• If you got your loan in January 2021: Prosecutors have untill January 2031
• If you filed for forgiveness after the initial loan: The clock might start even later (more on this below)

Bottom line: 2025 isn’t the finish line. It’s the halfway point. Your not out of the woods—your smack in the middle of them, and the hunters are still very much active.

2025 Enforcement Reality: The Government Is Just Getting Started

Here’s something that catches alot of people completley off gaurd. They assume that after 5 years, the goverment has “moved on” to other priorities. That old cases have gone cold and evidence has faded. That investigators have bigger fish to fry and aren’t interested in pandemic-era stuff anymore.

The exact opposite is true. 2025 is shaping up to be the most aggressive year for PPP fraud enforcement since the program was created.

Let me give you some numbers that should wake you up and make you realize how serious this situation really is:

• The FBI estimates $64 billion was stolen through PPP fraud—that’s billion with a B
• The SBA Office of Inspector General has flagged over 70,000 loans for potential fraud and investigation
• The IRS Criminal Investigation division reported 2,039 tax and money laundering cases related to pandemic fraud in 2025 alone
• There were 5 separate major enforcement announcements just in September 2025
• The DOJ COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force currently has over 700 active cases and is adding more every week
• Federal prosecutors have achieved a 97% conviction rate in fraud cases, with about 90% resolving through plea deals

Real talk—the goverment isn’t winding down these investigations. Their ramping up. And heres why that makes perfect sense from there perspective: they’ve spent the last 5 years building cases, gathering evidence, analyzing data, cross-referencing records, and identifying targets. Now their in active prosecution mode. The groundwork has been laid. The evidence has been compiled. It’s go time.

Think about it this way. In 2020 and 2021, everything was chaos. The pandemic was raging, businesses were desperate, and the goverment was trying to get money out the door as fast as possible. Loans were being issued at lightning speed with minimal verification. There wasn’t time for thorough review of every application. The priority was speed, not fraud prevention.

But since then? The government has been systematicaly cross-referencing every single PPP application against tax returns, bank records, business filings, state employment data, and dozens of other sources. Their using sophisticated data analytics and AI-powered fraud detection tools to identify patterns and anomalies. And their finding plenty of fraud—more then they can actually prosecute with there current resources.

Your loan might already be flagged for investigation. You just don’t know it yet because nobody’s contacted you. The investigation process can proceed for years without any direct contact with the target. Federal agents interview third parties, subpoena bank records, review tax filings—all without ever knocking on your door. The fact that you haven’t heard anything doesn’t mean your safe. It might just mean your not at the front of the line yet.

And here’s something else to consider that most people don’t think about: who else knows about your situation? The goverment isn’t just finding fraud through data analysis. Their also recieving tips from whistleblowers who can earn 15-30% of whatever the goverment recovers through qui tam lawsuits under the False Claims Act. Nearly 1,000 qui tam lawsuits related to pandemic fraud have been filed.

That disgruntled ex-employee who you fired in 2022? That former business partner you had a falling out with? That accountant who prepared your application and might be worried about there own liability? Any of them could be the reason you end up under investigation. People have alot of incentive to report fraud when theres a six-figure bounty attached.

Your Forgiveness Didn’t Protect You—It Actually Made Things Worse

This is the part that really shocks people and makes them realize how much trouble their potentially in. Most business owners who recieved PPP loans applied for and got forgiveness. The loan was “forgiven,” the money didn’t have to be paid back, and they assumed the whole thing was over and done with. Case closed. Time to move on with life.

But heres what actually happened, and why forgiveness might have made your situation worse instead of better.

When you applied for loan forgiveness, you didn’t just fill out a simple form. You submitted another complete set of documents and made another complete set of certifications to the federal goverment. You certified how you spent the funds. You submitted bank statements and payroll records. You signed your name attesting that everything was accurate and truthful.

If any of those certifications were false—if you overstated payroll expenses, if you claimed you used funds for eligible purposes when you actually used them for personal stuff, if you submitted documentation that wasn’t completley accurate—you committed additional federal crimes on top of whatever fraud may have been in your original application.

Your forgiveness application is a seperate potential charge under 18 U.S.C. 1001 (False Statements to Federal Agencies). This is a federal felony carrying up to 5 years in prison per false statement. And each certification you made could be a seperate count.

This means that even if prosecutors somehow couldn’t prove fraud on your original loan application—maybe the evidence was weak or the intent was ambiguous—they might have an easier case based on your forgiveness submission. You voluntarily gave them a second chance to catch you.

And heres the kicker that changes the timeline calculation for alot of people: your forgiveness application may have reset the statute of limitations clock completely.

Remember how I said the 10-year statute runs from your “last fraudulent act”? If you submitted a fraudulent loan application in April 2020 and then submitted a fraudulent forgiveness application in September 2021, the clock doesn’t start from April 2020. It starts from September 2021, which was your last fraudulent act. That means prosecutors have untill September 2031 to charge you—not 2030.

So if your thinking “my loan was forgiven almost 4 years ago, I must be getting close to safe”—you might actually have 6 more years of exposure ahead of you, not 1. The forgiveness that felt like closure may have actually extended your risk window.

The forgiveness process also created a massive paper trail that investigators love. You submitted bank statements showing exactly where money went. You provided payroll records. You gave them tax documents. All of that is now evidence that can be used to either prove or disprove fraud. Investigators don’t have to wonder how you spent the money or try to reconstruct your finances from scratch—you told them yourself in the forgiveness application. If what you said doesn’t match reality, your in serious trouble.

Small Loans Are Being Prosecuted—There’s No “Too Small to Care About”

I know what your thinking. “My loan was only $20,000. Surely the government has bigger priorities then coming after someone like me.” Or maybe: “I only took $50,000. Their not gonna waste federal resources prosecuting that when there’s people who stole millions.”

This assumption is dangerously wrong, and I’ve seen people make this exact mistake right up untill they got arrested. The goverment is absolutley prosecuting small PPP loans. Their prosecuting loans of all sizes across the country.

Look, I’m not gonna sugarcoat this—in some ways, smaller loans are actually easier to prosecute because the fraud is often more obvious and straightforward.

When someone takes a $2 million PPP loan for a large business with 50 employees, the paperwork is complicated. Their are multiple employees on different pay schedules, complex payroll structures with various benefit categories, different expense types that might qualify. Proving fraud requires untangling alot of documentation and accounting. Defense attorneys can argue about interpretations and good faith errors.

But when someone takes a $20,000 PPP loan claiming they had 5 employees and $100,000 in annual payroll when they actually had no employees and no payroll? That’s dead simple to prove. The FBI can pull your tax filings, see you reported zero business income and no employees, and compare that to the PPP application where you claimed a bunch of stuff that obviously wasn’t true. Case closed. No ambiguity.

I’ve seen prosecutions for loans under $50,000. I’ve seen people sentenced to federal prison for PPP fraud involving amounts that most people would consider “small” in the scheme of things. The goverment’s position is simple and consistant: fraud is fraud, irregardless of the amount involved. And sending people to prison for smaller frauds sends a message to everyone else who might be thinking about doing the same thing.

The 97% conviction rate in federal court applies weather your charged with stealing $20,000 or $2 million. The feds only bring cases they know they can win—they have the resources to investigate thoroughly and the conviction statistics to prove they know what their doing. Once they decide to charge you, they almost always win. And the penalties are severe even for smaller amounts—we’re talking potential prison time measured in years, mandatory restitution of everything you took plus interest, substantial fines, and a federal felony conviction on your record forever that will effect employment, housing, and everything else for the rest of your life.

Don’t let the size of your loan give you false comfort. If you committed fraud, your at risk. Period. End of story.

Warning Signs: How to Know if Your Already Under Investigation

One of the scariest things about federal investigations is that they often happen quietly for months or even years. You might be under active investigation right now and have absolutley no idea. The government can issue subpoenas to your bank, your accountant, your lender, your former employees, and various other third parties—and under federal law, those parties usually cant tell you about it.

But there are some warning signs that might indicate something is happening behind the scenes:

SBA Audit Letters or Document Requests: Have you recieved any communication from the SBA asking for additional documentation about your PPP loan? Even if its framed as a “routine audit” or “standard review,” this could be the begining of an investigation. The SBA is ramping up audits significently in 2025, even for loans previously considered “safe” because they were under the $2 million threshold that triggered automatic review.

Lender Inquiries: Has your lender—weather it was a traditional bank or a fintech company—contacted you asking for additional documentation or clarification about your loan? Banks and fintech lenders are under tremendous pressure from regulators to identify and report suspicious loans. If their asking questions 5 years after the fact, thats a red flag that should concern you.

Third-Party Subpoenas: Have you heard through the grapevine that anyone connected to your business—your accountant, your bookkeeper, your bank, a former employee, a business partner—has been contacted by federal investigators or recieved a subpoena? They may not be allowed to tell you directly, but sometimes word gets around through mutual contacts. If your hearing whispers, take them seriously.

Unusual Account Activity: Have you noticed any unusual freezes, holds, or inquiries on your bank accounts? Any strange activity with your business accounts or personal finances? Sometimes the first sign that federal agencies are taking a look at you is unusual financial activity that you cant explain.

Grand Jury Subpoena or Target Letter: If you recieve either of these, your definately under serious investigation and you need a federal criminal defense attorney immediately—like, today. A target letter specifically means the government considers you a potential defendant in a criminal case. This is absolutely not the time to answer questions, try to explain yourself, or talk to investigators without counsel. This is the time to exercise your rights and get professional help.

The absence of these warning signs doesn’t necessarily mean your safe. Investigations can proceed quietly for years without any direct contact with the target. But if you ARE seeing any of these signs, take them extremely seriously. Early action can dramatically effect your outcome and your options.

What To Do Right Now If Your Worried About Your PPP Loan

Okay, so you’ve read all of this and your probably feeling pretty anxious right now. Maybe scared. Maybe overwhelmed. Thats completley understandable—this is serious stuff. The question now is: what should you actually do about it?

Option 1: Do Nothing and Hope for the Best

This is what alot of people choose, and I understand the appeal. Their scared, their in denial, and doing nothing feels easier in the short term then confronting a potentially devastating problem. Maybe you’ll be one of the lucky ones who slips through the cracks. Maybe investigators will never get to your file. Maybe the whole thing will just go away.

But this is objectivley the worst option. Your gambling your freedom and your future on the hope that investigators never work through there backlog far enough to reach you. And if they do—if you wake up one morning to federal agents at your door—you’ll have wasted years that could of been spent preparing a defense, exploring voluntary disclosure, or taking other proactive steps.

Option 2: Voluntary Disclosure

This is the option most people don’t even know exists, and it might be the best path forward depending on your situation. Coming forward voluntarily—before your under investigation—can dramatically improve your outcome in ways that seem almost unbelievable.

Prosecutors have discretion in how they handle cases, and voluntary disclosure is viewed as strong evidence of good faith and acceptance of responsibility. In some cases, voluntary disclosure can result in civil resolution instead of criminal charges. You might end up paying back the money plus penalties and interest, but avoiding prison and a felony conviction. Thats a huge difference in outcomes.

The key is timing: this only works BEFORE your under investigation. Once you’ve recieved a subpoena, a target letter, or a visit from federal agents, its too late for voluntary disclosure. At that point, your not coming forward voluntarily—your responding to an investigation thats already underway, and you’ve lost most of the strategic advantage.

Option 3: Prepare Your Defense Now

Even if you don’t pursue voluntary disclosure, you should be actively preparing for the possibility of investigation. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. This means:

• Preserve all documents related to your PPP loan—original applications, supporting documents, bank statements, payroll records, forgiveness applications, any communications with lenders. Do NOT destroy anything. Destruction of evidence is a seperate federal crime called obstruction of justice, and people have gotten longer sentences for destroying evidence then they would of gotten for the underlying fraud.
• Hire a federal criminal defense attorney now—not when you get a subpoena, not when agents show up, but now while you have time to prepare strategically. An experienced attorney can assess your actual exposure level, advise you on the best path forward, help you understand your options, and be ready to respond immediately if investigators come knocking.
• Stop talking about your PPP loan situation to anyone who might become a witness—employees, former employees, business partners, friends, family members. Stop posting anything on social media about your business or finances. Anything you say can potentially be used against you.
• Document everything going forward and organize what you have. If you have legitimate explanations for how you used the funds, gather that supporting evidence now while memories are fresh and documents are accessible.

The Clock Is Running. What Are You Going to Do?

If you got a PPP loan in 2020, you still have potentially 5 more years of risk stretching out ahead of you. Thats 5 more years of wondering if today is the day investigators finally get to your file. 5 more years of anxiety every time you see another news story about PPP fraud prosecutions. 5 more years of your fate being in someone else’s hands while you wait and wonder and worry.

Or you can take control of the situation right now, while you still have options and while time is still on your side.

A federal criminal defense attorney can evaluate your specific situation, assess your realistic level of risk, and help you decide on the smartest path forward. Most initial consultations are confidential under attorney-client privilige—you can discuss your situation completley honestly without fear that your words will be used against you later.

Don’t wait until your already under investigation and your options have narrowed. Don’t wait until federal agents show up at you’re door or your workplace. Don’t wait untill 2029 when your panicking because the statute is about to expire and you’ve done absolutley nothing to prepare for the worst case scenario.

The answer to “can I still be prosecuted for my 2020 PPP loan” is unambiguously yes. The government has untill 2030 or later. Their actively investigating thousands of cases right now. Enforcement is accelerating, not winding down.

The question now is simple: what are you going to do about it?

Call a federal defense attorney today. The clock is running. Make your move.