On April 28, 2020, Treasury Secretary Mnuchin announced that companies that received loans of more than $2 million through the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) of the CARES Act will be closely scrutinized. Mr. Mnuchin noted that the Small Business Administration (“SBA”) would audit the business to determine whether the certifications submitted in connection with the loan were truthful and accurate, and threatened that companies found to have made false certifications could face criminal consequences. Mr. Mnuchin’s announcement followed public outcry after reports surfaced that large, and even publicly-traded, companies received loans through the PPP. Against this backdrop, any company that received a loan through the PPP should be prepared to handle government requests for information as a potentially adversarial inquiry.
