WASHINGTON—The Small Business Administration on Tuesday released detailed loan information for millions of borrowers under the Paycheck Protection Program, amid signs of fraud in the federal government’s signature coronavirus relief effort for small businesses.
The disclosure provides the names, addresses and precise loan amounts for each PPP borrower. The SBA had previously issued some detailed information for PPP loans above $150,000, although the bulk of the program’s loans were smaller than that.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ordered the release of more information on PPP borrowers, in response to a lawsuit filed by news organizations under the Freedom of Information Act. Plaintiffs included Dow Jones & Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal.
The SBA’s inspector general said in October that there were “strong indicators of widespread potential abuse and fraud in the PPP.” The watchdog counted tens of thousands of companies that received PPP loans for which they appear to have been ineligible, such as corporations created after the pandemic began.
The Paycheck Protection Program was a centerpiece of the $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief bill known as the Cares Act, which was approved by Congress in March. Launched the following month, PPP offered forgivable loans to small businesses and nonprofits, independent contractors and self-employed workers and had distributed $525 billion when it closed in August.
