Small Business Administration says billions of dollars in fraud was found in California

WASHINGTON (TNND) — Small Business Administration administrator Kelly Loeffler said Friday that the agency suspended over 111,000 California borrowers due to suspected fraud during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Once again, the Trump SBA is taking decisive action to deliver accountability in a state whose unaccountable welfare policies have created a culture of fraud and abuse at the expense of law-abiding taxpayers and small business owners,” Loeffler said during an interview with the New York Post.

The fraud amounts up to $8.6 billion in sketchy loans from the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Loeffler, the fraud allegedly happened due to people collecting money under the paycheck protection and economic injury disaster loans that were from the government to help people through economic hardships during the pandemic.

“This staggering number represents the most significant crack-down on those who defrauded pandemic programs, and it illuminates the scale of corruption that the Biden Administration tolerated for years,” Loeffler said.

She said that those committing fraud would not get a pass under President Donald Trump’s administration.

California Democratic Attorney General denied the report about the fraud.

He said that the claim was “baseless,” according to the New York Post.

This report comes after the Small Business Administration suspended thousands of borrowers in Minnesota due to fraud.