ORLANDO, Fla. – Timothy Bunnell, a robotics elementary school teacher in Lake County and a longtime Disney cast member, was stunned to receive a past due notice from the U.S. Small Business Administration for a loan in excess of $20,000.
“I wasn’t sure if someone was trying to scam me to get me to send them money, or if someone stole my identity,” he told News 6.
The stolen identity theory is the most likely explanation.
Bunnell contacted the SBA fraud department and records showed he had received a PPP or Payroll Protection Loan. But, Bunnell never applied for the loan.
The latest federal data shows roughly $64 billion lost to imposters collecting PPP loans.
Michael Horowitz, inspector general of the U.S Department of Justice, told News 6 the fraud numbers are “enormous.”
In an interview late last year, Horowitz said “it’s a consequence of getting out the money faster than it should have gotten out.”
News 6 contacted the SBA regional office and it suggested to have Bunnell connect with the fraud department.
An SBA spokesperson issued this statement: ”The SBA, under the Biden-Harris Administration, has and always will make the responsible stewardship of economic relief programs a top priority, implementing top industry fraud controls and identifying and aggressively pursuing instances of fraud in SBA’s COVID-19 assistance programs. We are continuing to closely consult with oversight and law enforcement agencies, including the OIG and the DOJ, to prosecute fraudsters and seize unlawfully obtained funds.”
If you think your identity has been used to obtain an SBA loan illegally, file a fraud report.