SBA borrower suspensions, 2025–2026

Timeline

On September 14, 2026, at an event in Kansas City, Missouri, the SBA said it had suspended 870,000 borrowers connected to an estimated $39 billion in suspected fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program and COVID EIDL activity, covering borrowers in 45 new states, six territories and the District of Columbia (SBA News Release 26-91, September 14, 2026). The release carries a 52-row table. Its rows sum to 870,628 borrowers and $38,926,358,635, under a column headed Approval Amount — the approved value of the loans, not a separate loss estimate.

Five state rounds came first: California, Ohio, Minnesota, Maine and Wisconsin, which SBA describes as more than 150,000 borrowers tied to approximately $10 billion (SBA News Release 26-70, July 8, 2026).

The documents collected here do not say what the suspensions are as a legal matter.

1. February 24, 2025

   SBA restarts collections

   Administrator Kelly Loeffler’s memo on the agency’s Day One priorities said SBA would “restart its dormant collections programs effective immediately”. The same memo said the agency had established a Fraud Working Group and would appoint a Fraud Czar, and put pandemic-era fraud at an estimated $200 billion (SBA News Release 25-32, February 24, 2025).

2. April 10, 2025

   Citizenship and date-of-birth checks

   SBA added citizenship verification to loan applications in March 2025 and a date-of-birth check the following month, with an automatic flag for any applicant claiming to be younger than 18 or older than 115 years of age. The April release attributes to DOGE data findings of “over $630 million in loans made to applicants over the age of 115 and under the age of 11” (SBA News Release 25-33, March 6, 2025 ↗ (original: legacy.sba.gov · stored capture); SBA News Release 25-42, April 10, 2025).

3. January 2, 2026

   Minnesota: the first round on the record, announced by the White House

   The White House said SBA had halted all annual grant program payments to Minnesota and “suspended 6,900 borrowers in the state for approximately $400 million in suspected fraudulent activity”. No SBA news release covers the Minnesota round; SBA announced it on X, which this archive does not hold. Later SBA releases restate the round at approximately $400 million, except the April 2026 referral release, which says roughly $430 million (White House release, January 2, 2026; SBA News Release 26-29, February 6, 2026; SBA News Release 26-47, April 24, 2026).

4. January 2, 2026

   A $300,000 Palantir pilot order

   GSA signed delivery order 47QACA26F0050 to Palantir Technologies Inc. on January 2, 2026, obligating $300,000 for “SBA FRAUD PREVENTION PILOT AND BOOTCAMP”, funded by SBA’s Office of the Chief Information Officer. Five weeks later SBA said it had “recently partnered with Palantir” to expand its investigation into PPP and EIDL abuse. No SBA release gives a contract value (FPDS delivery order 47QACA26F0050, January 2, 2026 ↗ (original: fpds.gov); SBA News Release 26-29, February 6, 2026).

5. February 6, 2026

   California: 111,620 borrowers

   SBA announced the suspension of 111,620 California borrowers. The body of the release ties them to 118,489 loans totaling over $8.6 billion; the Administrator’s quote in the same release says “nearly 112,000 borrowers tied to at least $9 billion in suspected fraud”. Suspended borrowers, the release says, are “prohibited from executing new small business and disaster loans” and not eligible for other SBA programs (SBA News Release 26-29, February 6, 2026).

6. February 25, 2026

   The inspector general testifies

   SBA Inspector General William W. Kirk told the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship that OIG estimated in 2023 that more than $200 billion in potentially fraudulent COVID-19 EIDL and PPP funds had been disbursed out of approximately $1.2 trillion, “at least 17 percent” of the total. The written testimony also reports 309 demand letters to Shuttered Venue Operators Grant recipients in fiscal year 2025, seeking $540 million (Kirk written testimony, February 25, 2026; Senate SBC hearing page, February 25, 2026 ↗ (original: sbc.senate.gov · stored capture)).

7. March 16, 2026

   Executive Order 14395 creates the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud

   The order makes the Vice President chairman of the task force and lists the Small Business Administration among its members. Section 4 directs agencies to set minimum anti-fraud requirements, which may include “suspension, termination, repayment, exclusion, and debarment actions”. It was published in the Federal Register on March 19, 2026, at 91 FR 13485. Its text does not mention the pandemic, PPP or EIDL (Executive Order 14395, published March 19, 2026; White House fact sheet, March 16, 2026).

8. April 7, 2026

   A new Justice Department division

   An Attorney General memorandum of April 7, 2026 states that the department “established the National Fraud Enforcement Division”. The White House had announced the division in a fact sheet on January 8, 2026, and Colin M. McDonald was sworn in as its first Assistant Attorney General on April 1, 2026 (Attorney General memorandum, April 7, 2026; White House fact sheet, January 8, 2026; Justice Department division page, read September 15, 2026 ↗ (original: justice.gov · stored capture)).

9. April 24, 2026

   562,000 loans referred to Treasury

   SBA said it had referred 562,000 suspected fraudulent loans to Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service for collection, with the borrowers “tied to $22.2 billion in delinquent” PPP and COVID EIDL loans, and that it had transmitted the borrowers to the Justice Department. “Fewer than 1,000 of these borrowers had been subject to investigations by the SBA Office of Inspector General,” the release says. It also states that by law SBA must refer delinquent debts to the Fiscal Service once they become sufficiently past due (SBA News Release 26-47, April 24, 2026).

10. June 4, 2026

    Maine: 1,500 borrowers, and no SBA release of its own

    The earliest captured primary document giving the Maine figures is SBA’s Ohio release of June 4, 2026, which lists “1,500 Maine borrowers tied to $93 million in suspected fraud”. As with Minnesota, the announcement was a post on X, and no captured document states the date of the round itself (SBA News Release 26-56, June 4, 2026; SBA News Release 26-70, July 8, 2026).

11. June 4, 2026

    Ohio: 27,486 borrowers

    The Ohio round covered 27,486 borrowers connected to approximately $1.1 billion in suspected fraudulent PPP and COVID EIDL activity. The release’s subtitle ties the announcement to four Ohio borrowers charged with PPP fraud in a scheme of more than $1.4 million. Later SBA releases round the Ohio count to 27,000 (SBA News Release 26-56, June 4, 2026; SBA News Release 26-74, July 14, 2026).

12. June 12, 2026

    The prosecutions surge opens

    The Justice Department later dated its surge of SBA COVID-loan prosecutions to the window from June 12 to September 1, 2026 (DOJ release 26-1052, September 14, 2026).

13. June 18, 2026

    A second Palantir order, for analysis and adjudication

    GSA signed delivery order 47QACA26F0278 on June 18, 2026, obligating $6,746,802 for “COVID RELIEF LOANS AND GRANTS ANALYSIS AND ADJUDICATION AND GCBD CERTIFICATION COMPLIANCE AND FRAUD ANALYSIS”. A modification of August 18, 2026 added $999,999.56, bringing the total obligated to $7,746,801.56. What “adjudication” covers is not stated in the record, and no SBA release mentions the order (FPDS delivery order 47QACA26F0278, June 18, 2026 ↗ (original: fpds.gov)).

14. July 8, 2026

    Wisconsin: 7,800 borrowers

    Wisconsin added 7,800 borrowers tied to $375 million. SBA put the running total at “over 150,000 borrowers suspended from SBA programs across five states” representing over $10 billion. A White House release of August 6, 2026 describes the same round as nearly 8,000 borrowers (SBA News Release 26-70, July 8, 2026; White House release, August 6, 2026).

15. July 14, 2026

    SBA expands its use of Palantir software

    The release says the arrangement “formalizes the Fraud Prevention Pilot Program that the agency launched earlier this year with Palantir software”. It quotes the Administrator putting pandemic-era fraud at “as much as 20% of the more than $1.2 trillion” in aid, against the “at least 17 percent” floor in the inspector general’s February testimony (SBA News Release 26-74, July 14, 2026; Kirk written testimony, February 25, 2026).

16. August 19, 2026

    Shuttered venue grant debt goes to Treasury

    SBA referred a first tranche of Shuttered Venue Operators Grant debt totaling $34 million in principal, administrative costs and accrued interest. The release says the agency began issuing rescission and demand letters in June 2025 and has recouped over $50 million, and cites OIG for approximately $544 million in potential improper SVOG payments and 2,590 awards worth approximately $4.8 billion still open (SBA News Release 26-84, August 19, 2026).

17. August 24, 2026

    National Fraud Detection Center

    The Justice Department announced the National Fraud Detection Center, “a prosecutor-led, multi-agency team” whose inaugural members include the Small Business Administration. SBA’s inspector general posted the same announcement the following day and says it signed the center’s charter (DOJ release 26-963, August 24, 2026; SBA OIG joins the National Fraud Detection Center as a charter signatory (original: legacy.sba.gov · stored capture)).

18. September 3 and 11, 2026

    Do Not Pay notices in the Federal Register

    Two SBA system-of-records notices published on September 3, 2026 add a routine use disclosing loan and disaster-loan records to Treasury’s Do Not Pay system for “identifying, preventing, or recouping improper payments”. A matching-program notice of September 11, 2026 renews SBA’s Do Not Pay matching program; its appendix lists COVID-19 EIDL, PPP loan forgiveness and guaranty purchases, RRF and SVOG among the covered programs. None of the three mentions borrower suspensions (SBA notice 2026-18009, September 3, 2026; SBA notice 2026-17995, September 3, 2026; SBA notice 2026-18527, September 11, 2026).

19. September 14, 2026

    870,000 borrowers, and the demand letters

    SBA announced suspensions for 870,000 borrowers connected to an estimated $39 billion in suspected fraudulent PPP and COVID EIDL activity, in 45 new states, six territories and the District of Columbia. The release’s table has 52 rows; the largest are Florida at 118,167 borrowers and $5,319,530,419, Illinois at 96,128, Texas at 88,831, Georgia at 85,975 and New York at 75,451. Suspended borrowers are “prohibited from receiving future SBA small-business and disaster loans and are ineligible for other SBA programs”, including 8(a) contracting.

    SBA and its inspector general also announced Operation No Doze, under which the agency will send final 30-day demand letters to suspected fraudulent borrowers, “starting with approximately 8,000 in Kansas and Missouri”. Borrowers who do not pay within the 30 days may face enforcement under the Administrative False Claims Act, referral to the Justice Department, transfer to Treasury’s Cross Servicing program with “added interest and collection fees of up to 28 percent”, and offset of tax refunds, federal salaries, contractor payments and benefit payments.

    The Justice Department released its own account the same day, describing Operation No Doze as “a surge of criminal enforcement actions” run as part of a Heartland Fraud Surge: felony charges against nearly 80 defendants for approximately $100 million in intended loss, approximately 43 guilty pleas for approximately $44 million, and approximately 40 sentencings for nearly $100 million, spanning over 160 defendants and approximately $245 million in total (SBA News Release 26-91, September 14, 2026; DOJ release 26-1052, September 14, 2026; SBA OIG release, September 16, 2026).

Event log

The table sets the steps the documents date against one another. A suspension is an administrative status; a referral moves a debt to Treasury for collection; a demand letter asks for payment; a charge is an accusation; a plea or a sentence is an outcome a court has entered.

Each row gives the figure as its document prints it. The rows do not add: the Justice Department's charge, plea and sentence counts are separate populations that may overlap, and the Western District of Missouri figures sit inside the national ones.

What the announcements do not state

No document collected here names the authority for the suspensions or the procedure behind them. The releases give the effect and nothing more: suspended borrowers are barred from future SBA small-business and disaster loans and ineligible for other SBA programs, including 8(a) contracting (SBA News Release 26-91, September 14, 2026). None of them describes a notice sent to the borrower, a way to contest the suspension, how long it lasts, or whether the borrower is listed in any public registry.

SBA’s own lender rulebook points somewhere specific for excluded parties. SOP 50 10 8.1 tells lenders that people and entities suspended or debarred under SBA or government-wide rules may not do business with SBA, citing 2 CFR part 180 as adopted by reference in 2 CFR part 2700 (SOP 50 10 8.1 ↗ (original: legacy.sba.gov)). Under those rules a suspension is “a temporary status of ineligibility” pending an investigation or proceeding, the suspending official for SBA financial assistance programs is the Director of the Office of Credit Risk Management, the respondent has 30 days after receiving a Notice of Suspension to contest it, and a suspension “may not exceed 12 months if proceedings are not initiated” (2 CFR part 180 ↗ (original: ecfr.gov · stored capture); 2 CFR part 2700 ↗ (original: ecfr.gov · stored capture)). This collection does not state whether the borrower suspensions were made under those rules.

SBA has not published a list of the suspended borrowers, and this archive does not compile one. The releases also do not say whether the 870,000 overlap the more than 560,000 borrowers referred to Treasury in April 2026, or whether the roughly 8,000 demand-letter recipients in Kansas and Missouri are among the suspended (SBA News Release 26-47, April 24, 2026; SBA News Release 26-91, September 14, 2026).

The “up to 28 percent” in collection fees appears in release 26-91 and in no captured Treasury document. Treasury’s published material describes cross-servicing fees as covering up to the full cost of servicing transferred debts, charged as a percentage of collections or a flat fee and announced to creditor agencies rather than published as a rate (Treasury Financial Manual, chapter 5000 ↗ (original: tfx.treasury.gov · stored capture); 31 CFR 285.12 ↗ (original: ecfr.gov · stored capture)).

Where the figures differ

Minnesota is $400 million in the White House release, in SBA 26-29 and in the later state releases, and “roughly $430 million” in the April 2026 Treasury referral release (White House release, January 2, 2026; SBA News Release 26-47, April 24, 2026).

California is 111,620 borrowers and 118,489 loans worth over $8.6 billion in the body of 26-29, “nearly 112,000” tied to “at least $9 billion” in the Administrator’s quote in the same release, and 112,000 tied to $8.6 billion in the releases that follow (SBA News Release 26-29, February 6, 2026; SBA News Release 26-74, July 14, 2026). Ohio is 27,486 in June and 27,000 afterwards; Wisconsin is 7,800 in SBA’s release and nearly 8,000 in the White House’s (SBA News Release 26-70, July 8, 2026; White House release, August 6, 2026).

The five prior rounds add up to 155,306 borrowers and about $10.57 billion, against the “more than 150,000” and “approximately $10 billion” that SBA states. The national round is 870,000 in the headline and 870,628 in the table, and $39 billion in the text against $38,926,358,635 in the table’s approval-amount column. The “six territories” are five territories plus AE, a military postal code (SBA News Release 26-91, September 14, 2026).

The Treasury referral is 562,000 loans in the title and first line of 26-47, and “more than 560,000 borrowers” in the same release and in every later restatement (SBA News Release 26-47, April 24, 2026; SBA News Release 26-91, September 14, 2026). Loans and borrowers are not the same count, and no document reconciles them.

SBA and the Justice Department describe Operation No Doze differently on the same day. SBA calls it the demand-letter campaign and attributes the indictments to Operation Heartland Surge; the Justice Department calls Operation No Doze a surge of criminal enforcement actions announced as part of a Heartland Fraud Surge, and its release contains no demand-letter figure (SBA News Release 26-91, September 14, 2026; DOJ release 26-1052, September 14, 2026).

The route SBA states for identity theft

For someone who says a loan was taken out in their name, SBA asks for three documents: a photo ID, an Identity Theft Report filed at IdentityTheft.gov or with local police, and the SBA Declaration of Identity Theft, Form 3513. They go through the SBA Loan Portal or to one of two mailboxes, IDTheftRecords@sba.gov for disaster loans including COVID EIDL, and PPPidtheftinquiries@sba.gov for 504 debentures, 7(a) loans, PPP loans and Restaurant Revitalization awards (SBA, Report fraud or identity theft, read August 20, 2026 ↗ (original: sba.gov · stored capture)).

Form 3513 carries OMB control number 3245-0418 and warns that a false declaration may bring criminal prosecution, civil penalties under the Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act, and “suspension and/or debarment from all Federal procurement and non-procurement transactions” (SBA Form 3513 (11-24)). Nothing in this collection describes a route for a borrower who wants to contest a suspension itself.

The data behind this page

Every round, every restatement of it and the 52 rows of the September 2026 table are in one file at the borrower-suspensions rounds table, with the wording each document used.

The suspended counts set against PPP and COVID EIDL lending in each state and territory are at suspensions by state.

Start reading

1. SBA News Release 26-91, September 14, 202652 rows of state totals, the demand letters, and the consequences SBA lists.
2. DOJ release 26-1052, September 14, 2026The Justice Department’s account of the same day, with the June 12 to September 1 figures.
3. SBA News Release 26-47, April 24, 2026Announces the Treasury referral: 562,000 loans, $22.2 billion, fewer than 1,000 under investigation.
4. SBA News Release 26-29, February 6, 2026The first state round announced in an SBA release, and the first mention of Palantir.
5. Kirk written testimony, February 25, 2026The inspector general’s $200 billion estimate and the shuttered-venue demand-letter counts.
6. Executive Order 14395, published March 19, 2026Lists SBA as a member of the task force and names suspension among its remedies.
7. SBA Form 3513 (11-24)The declaration SBA asks identity-theft victims to sign.