Enforcement & Courts

Marisela Nuno faces PPP loan fraud and money laundering charges involving more than $18 million sought in pandemic aid. Here’s what prosecutors allege.

Ron Cook faces charges in an alleged agricultural lending fraud scheme. Court records reveal an earlier payoff dispute and lessons for loan verification.

Austin accountant Arun Mago received 41 months in prison for PPP fraud and money laundering. See the timeline from 2021 loan fraud to sentencing.

DOJ's new WHIP program pays up to $30,000 at the charging stage for fraud tips, including SBA programs. The 120-day internal reporting clock is the part to watch.

Richard Teplitsky has pleaded guilty to mail fraud in a decades-long investment scheme built around purported equipment loans. Federal prosecutors put the losses at $54.4 million.

Timothy Wadsworth got 51 months for a $2 million fraud spanning EIDL, PPP, unemployment and stolen credit cards. The relief money was not where it started.

Kara DiPietro won an SBA award, borrowed from Par Funding, and testified for the government. She now faces six counts of bank fraud over $2.5M in PPP loans.

A California man admitted drawing $4.6 million from a New Jersey factoring company against invoices his customers never owed. The structural gap that allowed it.

Mohammed Maio was sentenced to 10 years for a $2.2 million pandemic loan scheme that ran four years. Why this sentence landed so much harder than most.

Bank of America admitted willful Bank Secrecy Act violations and will pay $1.21B. It's a record, and about 12 days of the bank's profit.

California man convicted of SBA EIDL fraud after gambling $442K and paying a $100K kickback. The case raises questions about loan oversight.

SEC charges 5G Funding and Jacob Garfinkel over an alleged $4.5M MCA investment fraud involving syndication, investor reporting and diverted funds.

How the Life Surge seminar funnel headlined by Tim Tebow uses credit card stacking and HELOCs to fund $40K upsells—and why the FTC is cracking down.

Angela Lipps spent 163 days in custody after a facial recognition lead and investigative errors. Her case raises serious questions about AI oversight.

A New Jersey childcare operator got a year and a day for a $535,000 PPP loan. Her own EIDL file convicted her.

PPP Fraud Prosecutions Continue: A Phoenix man got 15 months for $1M in PPP loans. A California man faces three counts over $2.9M in PPP loans.

Leor Moshe of Toms River, New Jersey pleaded guilty on August 13, 2026 to wire fraud after raising roughly $47 million from at least 87 investors.

CDFIs have filed a lawsuit against the Treasury and OMB, fighting to release hundreds of millions in bipartisan-approved capital for small businesses.

Arthur Spitzer pleaded guilty to mortgage fraud and $1.8M in EIDL fraud. Why COVID relief was the easiest mark a paper fraudster ever found.

DOJ alleges SIMAD owner Michael Shabsels and related companies improperly obtained over $13 million in PPP loans before their 2026 collapse.