Man Charged in Connection With CARES Act Loan Fraud (SBA)

Summary

This is an Office of Inspector General news release, published on May 23, 2025, that links to the original Department of Justice press release. It states that the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Colorado announces that Joseph Ronald Trenkle, 54, has been charged in a criminal information with one count each of wire fraud and money laundering. According to the information, between April 30, 2020, and February 25, 2022, Trenkle applied for and received $1,850,000 in Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) and $2,999,995 in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds. The release states that an initial appearance took place on May 22, 2025, in Denver before Magistrate Judge Cyrus Y. Chung, and that the charges are allegations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

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OIG news release

Man Charged in Connection With CARES Act Loan Fraud

Published on May 23, 2025 by Office of Inspector General

Click Here to View the Original U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Press Release

The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announces that Joseph Ronald Trenkle, 54, formerly of Cherry Hills Village, Colorado and currently of Dorado, Puerto Rico, has been charged in a criminal information with one count each of wire fraud and money laundering.

According to the information, between April 30, 2020, and February 25, 2022, Trenkle applied for and received $1,850,000 in COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) from the Small Business Administration (SBA) and $2,999,995 in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds from an SBA-approved lender. The information alleges that after first obtaining an EIDL loan in March 2020, Trenkle made two requests to increase the amount of his EIDL and made false representations as part of each of request. The information further alleges that Trenkle submitted two fraudulent PPP loan applications, and also submitted fraudulent applications for PPP loan forgiveness for each PPP loan.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was enacted in March 2020 and was designed to provide emergency financial assistance to Americans dealing with the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The CARES Act created the PPP, a program administered by the SBA that provided loans to small businesses to retain workers, maintain payroll, and certain other expenses consistent with PPP rules. Additionally, the CARES Act authorized the SBA to provide EIDLs to eligible small businesses experiencing substantial financial disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The defendant made his initial appearance on May 22, 2025, in Denver in front of Magistrate Judge Cyrus Y. Chung.

The charges contained in the information are allegations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, and Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Craig Fansler.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form

Case Number: 25-cr-00150-RMR

Related programs: Disaster, Pandemic Oversight, PPP

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