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I just retired as an accountant working with small businesses, so I saw several of these loans as they happened. The banks were overwhelmed and were trying to be "good citizens" during the money spewing. Many of the banks really had little experience with SBA loans, and while you were supposed to go through your primary bank who already "knew" your business, it was not required. The clients I worked with were honest and the loan amounts made sense based on their payroll history, but those guys don't make headlines because they got caught lying on the application.

I've always thought that some percentage (10% ???) of all government spending is always wasted, especially when the after the fact facts come out.

The real surprising part of this story it that it happened so fast; they guy just got the money a few months ago and has already been charged. So somebody blew the whistle on him, or this story would not have come out until a year from now. Hope he had a good time, because life is going to be miserable from now on.

And we can expect to see more headlines like this, as the more normal process of repayment or loan forgiveness comes into play. Most likely as the calendar-year accounting cranks up to process 2020 business income tax returns. But, again, a lot of the front-line enforcement got placed on the banks, and most were not prepared for this flood.