Rumors of a PPP Loan Arrest Warrant List Circulate on Social Media — Find out if It's Real
PPP loans were a hot commodity in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Published Oct. 23 2024, 4:27 p.m. ET
If you or someone you know was a recipient of a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP loan) in 2020, the KRS-ONE lyrics “woop, woop, that’s the sound of the police” may forever ruin your mood.
In October 2024, social media users ran amuck after reports surfaced that the U.S. government covertly started a campaign to send out arrest warrants to anyone who received a PPP loan fraudulently. The government has also reportedly generated a list of people who should be arrested for PPP loan fraud.
It’s not looking good, guys.
A PPP loan arrest warrants list allegedly exists, and multiple fraudulent businesses are involved.
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, PPP loans proved to be a saving grace for many small business owners. The $10,000 loans were intended to ensure the owners had enough resources to combat economic uncertainty, payroll freezes, and other issues while their businesses were shut down.
While many businesses used the funds legitimately, the government has prosecuted various cases of PPP loan fraud for those who took out millions in loans.
On Oct. 7, Bloomberg reported that the government is now looking to arrest those who likely only took out one loan but are “cases involving more technical noncompliance with the Small Business Administration’s complex (and often confusing) PPP regulations.”
Two weeks after Bloomberg reported the government’s intentions, rumors flooded social media that prosecutors were making PPP loan arrests using Propublica’s PPP loan list. She shared that if someone’s name is on the list and shouldn’t be, they will get an unpleasant visit shortly.
Many social media users have questioned the validity of the PPP arrest warrant list.
On Oct. 22, more discourse about the warrant arrests list surfaced on X (formerly Twitter). When news of a public list involving everyone who applied for a PPP loan broke, multiple commenters inquired about being on the list, even those who never took out a loan, because anxiety is real.
Some users claimed to have seen the list themselves and claimed they saw many of their peers’ names on it who allegedly shouldn’t have taken out a loan. However, many more users didn’t think the list existed and warned others not to believe the theory.
“Y’all are dumb as f--k if you believe there’s a ‘warrant list’ for PPP loans,” one user wrote.
“Everybody posting about the PPP warrant list, yet no one can provide a link or any proof of a list, s--t I’m nosey; I wanna see who’s on it,” another user admitted.
As far as we know, social media has a right to be skeptical of the warrant list’s validity. However, as PI Mom mentioned, ProPublica created a public list of every business that took out a PPP loan and has tracked the list since 2020, per its website. But for those imagining a High School Musical-type list, it seemingly doesn’t work that way. Users must already have the name of the business owner’s business and have to manually search for it rather than finding it in a list of other loan borrowers.
Whether a PPP warrant list exists or not, arrests have been made.
While the chatter about the PPP warrant list will likely continue, what remains true is that arrests regarding government fraud have increased. Countless arrests have been made regarding outstanding PPP loans and unemployment cases. In October 2024, a woman named Destiny Harris was arrested and charged with illegally obtaining $19,000 in PPP funds and unemployment fraud for receiving unemployed checks. Harris’s arrest warrant states she worked full-time while collecting the funds.
