The Trump administration’s Small Business Administration announced Thursday that it has suspended 6,900 Minnesota borrowers after uncovering a widespread suspected fraud tied to COVID-19 relief programs.
According to the agency, an internal review of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) approvals in Minnesota revealed nearly $400 million in potentially fraudulent loans—money that was supposed to keep small businesses afloat and American workers employed during the pandemic.
SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler said the agency reviewed thousands of pandemic-era loans approved in Minnesota and identified 7,900 PPP and EIDL loans connected to the suspended borrowers.
In a blunt statement posted to X, Loeffler laid out the scope of the action:
“Over the last week, SBA has reviewed thousands of potentially fraudulent pandemic-era PPP and EIDL loans approved in Minnesota.
Today, our agency took action to suspend 6,900 Minnesota borrowers amid suspected fraudulent activity. In total, these borrowers were approved for 7,900 PPP and EIDL loans worth approximately $400M.
These individuals will be banned from all SBA loan programs, including disaster loans, going forward. We will also refer every case, where appropriate, to federal law enforcement for prosecution and repayment.
After years, the American people will finally begin to see the criminals who stole from law-abiding taxpayers held accountable – and this is just the first state.”
Over the last week, SBA has reviewed thousands of potentially fraudulent pandemic-era PPP and EIDL loans approved in Minnesota.
Today, our agency took action to suspend 6,900 Minnesota borrowers amid suspected fraudulent activity. In total, these borrowers were approved for…
— Kelly Loeffler (@SBA_Kelly) January 2, 2026
Loeffler made clear that Minnesota is only the beginning.
In a follow-up post, she added:
“The suspected MN fraudsters that SBA suspended yesterday took out nearly 8,000 loans totaling $400 million during the pandemic.
It’s why we’re investigating every socialist welfare state where criminal networks thrived at the expense of law-abiding job creators and taxpayers.”
During an interview on Fox News, Loeffler emphasized that while most pandemic loans were legitimate, the sheer scale of fraud cannot be ignored.
“Out of $1.2 trillion that went out through SBA funds during COVID — now remember, these COVID-era loans helped millions of small businesses keep millions of employees on their payroll. Most were legitimate. But the fact is we had organized crime operating around these, like we see with the Somali crime ring in Minnesota,” Loeffler said.
“We have gone back through loans that the Biden administration tried to forgive that were known to be fraudulent. That’s why we already had 13,000 that we knew had been marked as fraudulent. We’re able to find quickly 8,000 of those and make sure that they cannot benefit from our services. But now, as I mentioned, we’re going to do that state by state. We are going to make sure that we understand the breadth, the depth, and the methods of these crimes — and that we hold more states accountable.”
WATCH:
The suspected MN fraudsters that SBA suspended yesterday took out nearly 8,000 loans totaling $400 million during the pandemic.
It’s why we’re investigating every socialist welfare state where criminal networks thrived at the expense of law-abiding job creators and taxpayers. pic.twitter.com/bZgEEsp6WV
— Kelly Loeffler (@SBA_Kelly) January 2, 2026
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