Watchdog Says $684 Million in Pandemic Loans Went to ‘Potentially Ineligible’ Nonprofits

President Joe Biden speaks about the American Rescue Plan and the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) for small businesses in response to coronavirus in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 22, 2021. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

The Small Business Administration (SBA) likely distributed hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans to nonprofits that may not have been eligible to receive such funds, according to the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of the SBA.

The PPP was established under the Trump administration and aimed at helping small businesses and nonprofits to continue paying their employees. As of Aug. 8, 2020, the SBA approved 136,355 loans worth more than $35 billion to nonprofits, of which more than $33 billion have been forgiven, according to an OIG report on Sept. 26.