DOJ: Summer crackdown finds $245 million in COVID loan fraud; 80+ charged The Justice Department posted a video of Attorney General Todd Blanche on September 14. He said that from June 12 through August 31 — working with about 40 U.S. Attorneys’ offices and 20 federal and state agencies — investigators uncovered about $245 million in losses from pandemic loan programs. More than 80 people have been charged so far in that slice of the work. Broader reporting on the same briefing puts the full “Heartland fraud surge” (June 12–Sept. 1) at more than 160 defendants and the same $245 million in intended losses. That includes new felony charges against nearly 80 people (~$100 million), about 43 guilty pleas (~$44 million), and about 40 sentencings (~$100 million). Vice President JD Vance, Blanche, FBI Director Kash Patel, and SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler announced the results in Kansas City. What the schemes look like Officials tied the cases to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL): Claims for employees who did not exist Fake businesses and fake payroll or revenue Identity theft EIDL applications for damage that did not happen Concealed foreign ties on applications Blanche: “Pandemic loan relief was meant to keep American small businesses alive during government lockdowns — not line the pockets of fraudsters.” One highlighted case: Jamie Gray, charged with wire fraud and money laundering in an alleged scheme involving nearly $56 million, including applications for dozens of businesses that prosecutors say were not operating before the eligibility deadline. One listed firm, “Fur Lives Matter,” existed but had no connection to him. The much larger SBA cut-off Alongside the criminal cases, Vance announced that the SBA is suspending about 870,000 borrowers tied to an estimated $39 billion in suspected pandemic-loan fraud. They are barred from future SBA loans and related programs. That is an administrative ban, not a mass conviction. The SBA inspector general had previously estimated well over $200 billion in potentially fraudulent PPP/EIDL loans across the whole program. PPP and EIDL together paid out more than $1 trillion after the 2020 CARES Act. The 10-year statute of limitations means cases can still be brought into the early 2030s. Same-day context: Patel also announced the Vietnam arrest of Emylee Thai in the separate Medicare genetic-testing case. Two different pots of taxpayer money, same enforcement push.