Utah Accountant Sentenced after Fraudulently Obtaining Over $221,000 in Paycheck Protection Program Loan Funds (Peter N. Sinju)

Summary

An OIG news release published February 17, 2026 by the Office of Inspector General, reporting that Salt Lake City accountant Peter N. Sinju was sentenced after fraudulently obtaining about $221,400 in Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan funds for clients without their knowledge. It states that he pleaded guilty in December 2025 to wire fraud, submitted at least four PPP and five EIDL applications, fabricated payroll sheets and applied for about $461,197.50 in all. He charged about $10,150 in fees, which the court ordered him to pay in restitution. U.S. Attorney Melissa Holyoak of the District of Utah made the announcement.

Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used

Full text

OIG news release

Utah Accountant Sentenced after Fraudulently Obtaining Over $221,000 in Paycheck Protection Program Loan Funds

Published on February 17, 2026 by Office of Inspector General

Click Here to Sign Up for SBA OIG Email Updates on Recent Investigative Cases, Audit Oversight Reports, and General News

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

A Salt Lake City accountant was sentenced today upon his felony conviction after he fraudulently obtained about $221,400 in Paycheck Protection Loan (PPP Loan) funds and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL Loan) funds for clients, without their knowledge. As a result, he personally gained about $10,150 from the scheme, which he was ordered by the court to pay in restitution.

Peter N. Sinju, 51, of Salt Lake City, pleaded guilty in December 2025 to wire fraud.

According to court documents and statements made at Sinju’s change of plea and sentencing hearings, from around June 2, 2020, to about July 3, 2020, Mr. Sinju engaged in a scheme and artifice to defraud the United States and the Small Business Administration (SBA) by submitting at least four fraudulent PPP Loan applications and five fraudulent EIDL-Loan applications on behalf of his clients. The COVID-19 PPP Loans were provided to small businesses for funding to meet specific obligations, including payroll and rent during the pandemic.

Mr. Sinju told his accounting clients that because he had access to their financial information, he could submit the loan applications for them and obtain emergency loans to help their businesses. Without his clients’ knowledge, Mr. Sinju inflated the payroll and gross revenue amounts in the loan applications. For three PPP-Loan applications for three separate clients, he fabricated payroll sheets that used false, identical wage amounts for employees in each business. Some of the listed employees did not even exist, and each of the business owners denied having certified the fabricated payroll sheets.

In total, Mr. Sinju applied for about $461,197.50 in fraudulent loans. However, because some of the loan applications were denied, Mr. Sinju only obtained about $221,400 for his unwitting, and innocent, clients. In return, Mr. Sinju charged his clients a total of about $10,150 in fees or commission for his services in helping them apply for these loans.

U.S. Attorney Melissa Holyoak of the District of Utah made the announcement.

The case was investigated jointly by the FBI Salt Lake City Field Office and the Office of Inspector General U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA-OIG).

Assistant United States Attorneys Todd C. Bouton and Brian Williams of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah prosecuted the case.

Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)

The Fraud Section leads the Criminal Division's prosecution of fraud schemes that exploit the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Since the inception of the CARES Act, the Fraud Section has prosecuted over 150 defendants in more than 95 criminal cases and has seized over $75 million in cash proceeds derived from fraudulently obtained PPP funds, as well as numerous real estate properties and luxury items purchased with such proceeds. More information can be found at Justice.gov/OPA/pr/justice-department-takes-action-against-covid-19-fraud .

Related programs: Pandemic Oversight, PPP

File and source

File

2026-02-17-Utah-Accountant-Sentenced-after-Fraudulently-Obtaining-Over-221-000-in-Paycheck-Protection-Program.html

Size

36,530 bytes

SHA-256

52e246d742a9fb47c47e58659baf9b06432fa3983c78e351ed0d1e4ced844bac

Our copy

2026-02-17-Utah-Accountant-Sentenced-after-Fraudulently-Obtaining-Over-221-000-in-Paycheck-Protection-Program.html

Original

legacy.sba.gov