FEDERAL CRIMINAL LAWYERS

Do I need a Alaska PPP Loan Fraud Lawyer

You received a letter from the SBA about your PPP loan. Or worse, from the FBI or the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Alaska in Anchorage. They’re questioning whether your employees were real, whether your payroll figures matched your tax returns, whether you spent the funds on payroll as promised. You need to understand whether federal prosecutors in Alaska are actually filing criminal charges over pandemic-era loan applications that you submitted in good faith during economic chaos, what prison time and financial penalties you’re facing if they are, and whether hiring an attorney who defends federal cases nationwide—not just Alaska—makes any difference when the federal system operates identically across districts and the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines don’t care if you’re in Anchorage or Manhattan. Understanding what Alaska federal prosecutors are actually doing with PPP fraud investigations requires seeing these cases play out across multiple federal districts, not just reading one jurisdiction’s public filings. Not what the statutes technically allow, but what charges they’re filing and what sentences judges are imposing. Todd Spodek, a second-generation criminal defense attorney who learned federal practice from his father and has spent his entire career defending clients against federal fraud prosecution, leads Spodek Law Group’s nationwide federal defense practice with over 50 years of combined experience including former federal prosecutors who understand how the government builds these cases. They know what evidence the U.S. Attorney’s Office values and where weaknesses exist that can prevent charges from being filed or convince prosecutors to reduce them. When you’re facing potential federal prosecution in Alaska for a PPP loan you thought was legitimate emergency relief during a pandemic, the constitutional protections that matter most are your Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination during the investigation and your Sixth Amendment right to effective counsel who understands federal procedure. They aren’t theoretical. They’re your only defense against a system that convicts 95-97% of defendants who go to trial. Call 212-300-5196. Alaska has one federal district: the District of Alaska. The U.S. Attorney’s Office based in Anchorage handles all federal prosecutions throughout the state. Whether you’re in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, or a remote Alaska community, the same prosecutors evaluate your case. The District of Alaska prosecuted an estimated 15-25 PPP fraud cases between 2023 and 2025. Alaska federal prosecutors are filing criminal charges for loans as small as $15,000 to $20,000, which means if you received even a modest PPP loan and the SBA audit flagged discrepancies between your application and your tax returns or payroll records, you’re at serious risk of federal prosecution. Documented sentences include substantial federal prison time even for loans under $100,000. This prosecutorial aggression creates a selective enforcement problem that raises due process concerns. The government distributed over $800 billion in PPP funds with minimal oversight, issued contradictory guidance about eligibility and permissible uses, told borrowers that loans would be forgiven if spent on payroll, then reversed course and began prosecuting business owners who relied on those representations when their documentation didn’t satisfy standards that didn’t exist when they applied. When thousands of Alaska businesses received PPP loans with similar documentation issues but only 15-25 faced criminal charges, the question isn’t just whether your application was technically accurate; it’s why your case was selected for prosecution when thousands of others with comparable or worse conduct were not. Attorneys who defend federal cases across multiple districts (like those at Spodek Law Group who have handled PPP fraud investigations from New Jersey to California to Alaska) understand how different U.S. Attorney’s Offices approach identical conduct, which provides critical context when negotiating with Alaska prosecutors about whether charges are warranted.

Your Choices in the Next 30 to 60 Days

If the SBA flagged your loan, here’s what happens next. The Small Business Administration’s Office of Inspector General conducts an initial audit using automated systems that compare your PPP application to IRS records, state unemployment data, and banking records looking for discrepancies. When the OIG believes fraud occurred, they refer the case to the FBI, which opens a criminal investigation that typically lasts 6 to 18 months before the U.S. Attorney’s Office decides whether to file charges. During this window, federal agents will likely contact you or your business, asking you to “clarify” information on your application or “explain” discrepancies they’ve identified. This is the most dangerous moment of the entire process. Anything you say will be used to build the criminal case against you and any misstatement you make (even an honest mistake about dates or amounts) creates a separate federal charge under 18 U.S.C. § 1001 for making false statements to federal investigators.

Your decision points: Do you speak to federal agents when they contact you? No. Invoke your Fifth Amendment right to remain silent, politely decline to answer questions, and state that you want to consult with an attorney before any interview. Do you voluntarily make restitution to the SBA, repaying the loan in full, thinking this will convince prosecutors you weren’t trying to commit fraud? This won’t prevent charges; in fact, it can hurt you because prosecutors will argue that your sudden repayment demonstrates consciousness of guilt. Do you wait until you’re formally charged before hiring an attorney? No. By the time charges are filed, the window to negotiate and prevent prosecution has closed. Former federal prosecutors, like those at Spodek Law Group, understand the investigation phase from the government’s perspective. They know what evidence gaps exist that can be exploited, which witnesses are unreliable, what exculpatory evidence can be presented before charges are filed to convince prosecutors they can’t prove intent beyond a reasonable doubt. This knowledge is most valuable before the U.S. Attorney’s Office commits to prosecution, not after.

Alaska Penalties and the 2025 Sentencing Shift

Defendants sentenced in Alaska federal court in 2024 and 2025 are receiving prison terms approximately 40% longer than defendants sentenced in 2021 and 2022 for identical loan amounts and conduct. A $150,000 PPP fraud case that generated a 12-month sentence in 2021 now generates 18 to 20 months in Anchorage in 2025. This trend reflects both fading judicial sympathy for pandemic-era economic distress and increased prosecutorial pressure for harsher sentences as high-profile PPP fraud cases dominate media coverage. Alaska federal judges are following national sentencing patterns: small loans ($15,000 to $75,000) generate average sentences of 10 to 24 months; medium loans ($75,000 to $250,000) generate 24 to 48 months federal prison; large loans over $250,000 can generate 48 to 96 months, with actual time served determined by the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines’ fraud loss table, acceptance of responsibility adjustments, and whether the defendant has criminal history points.

Beyond prison time, you face mandatory restitution for the full loan amount, supervised release after prison (typically 3 years for fraud cases), and civil penalties under the False Claims Act that allow the government to seek treble damages plus $27,894 per false statement. A $100,000 EIDL loan with three false statements on the application generates $300,000 in civil damages plus $83,682 in penalties, for total civil liability exceeding $383,000 even if you’ve already been criminally prosecuted and paid restitution. The founders understood that when government enforcement targets conduct that was widely tolerated or encouraged at the time it occurred, retroactive prosecution violates fundamental fairness. The pandemic PPP program embodied that problem. Business owners were told to apply quickly with minimal documentation, that loans would be forgiven, that the program was designed to help them survive, and now the same government that made those promises is prosecuting borrowers for relying on them. Having defended federal fraud cases that attracted national media attention (like Todd Spodek’s representation of Anna Delvey, whose story became the Netflix series “Inventing Anna”), the firm brings experience with cases where public perception and prosecutorial pressure create challenges beyond the evidence. Federal criminal procedure is uniform across all districts. The Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, Federal Rules of Evidence, and U.S. Sentencing Guidelines apply identically in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Manhattan, and Los Angeles, which means geographic proximity to your courthouse doesn’t provide any procedural advantage and local connections matter far less than federal expertise and experience defending these specific types of cases. The Sixth Amendment guarantees effective counsel, not local counsel. Effectiveness in federal fraud cases requires understanding how U.S. Attorney’s Offices evaluate cooperation, how to present exculpatory evidence during grand jury proceedings, how to negotiate pre-indictment resolutions, and how to litigate suppression motions and proffer agreements. None of which are Alaska-specific skills. What nationwide federal practice provides is comparison and negotiating power: when your attorney has negotiated with dozens of U.S. Attorney’s Offices and defended PPP fraud cases in multiple districts, they can demonstrate to Alaska federal prosecutors that similar conduct in other jurisdictions resulted in declinations or reduced charges, creating pressure for consistent treatment rather than arbitrary enforcement. Spodek Law Group’s nationwide federal practice (representing clients from New Jersey to California to Alaska) provides insight into how different U.S. Attorney’s Offices evaluate identical evidence, what mitigating factors each office values, and which arguments resonate with prosecutors who have discretion over charging decisions.

Immediate Action That Protects You

If you’ve received any communication from the SBA, FBI, or U.S. Attorney’s Office about your PPP loan: first, do not speak to federal agents without an attorney present. Invoke your Fifth Amendment right to remain silent, politely decline to answer questions, and state clearly that you want to consult with counsel before any interview. Second, preserve all documents related to the PPP loan, including the application, supporting documentation, bank records, payroll records, and any communications with lenders or the SBA. Destroying evidence is obstruction of justice under 18 U.S.C. § 1519 and creates separate federal charges that are often easier for prosecutors to prove than the underlying conduct being investigated. Third, don’t make voluntary restitution or contact the SBA offering to “fix” any issues without first consulting with experienced federal defense counsel; these actions can be used against you as evidence of consciousness of guilt. Fourth, understand that “small” loan amounts don’t protect you from prosecution. Alaska prosecutors are charging loans as small as $15,000.

Contact Spodek Law Group at 212-300-5196 for immediate consultation about your Alaska PPP fraud investigation.

Sources

¹ United States District Court for the District of Alaska, Criminal Case Statistics (2023-2025)

² Department of Justice, PPP Fraud Enforcement Data (2025)

³ Federal Lawyers, “NJ SBA Fraud PPP Loan Fraud Defense Lawyers” (2025), https://www.federallawyers.com/nj-sba-fraud-ppp-loan-fraud-defense-lawyers/

⁴ Federal Lawyer, “What are the Charges for PPP Loan Fraud?” (2025), https://federal-lawyer.com/what-are-the-charges-for-ppp-loan-fraud/

⁵ U.S. Sentencing Commission, 2025 Guidelines Manual, § 2B1.1

⁶ NJ Criminal Attorneys, “Alabama EIDL Loan Fraud Lawyers” (2025), https://www.njcriminalattorneys.com/alabama-eidl-loan-fraud-lawyers/

⁷ Federal Lawyers, “Alabama PPP Loan Fraud Lawyers” (2025), https://www.federallawyers.com/alabama-ppp-loan-fraud-lawyers-3/