The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has exposed widespread fraud within the Small Business Administration (SBA), revealing that thousands of loans were issued to children under the age of 12. In total, 5,593 loans worth $312 million were granted to applicants who could not have legally owned businesses during the COVID years of 2020 and 2021.
DOGE’s findings indicate that each of these loans used a mismatched Social Security number, raising serious concerns about identity fraud. While some business arrangements could theoretically involve minors, DOGE officials stated that the scale of this fraud suggests deliberate deception.
In addition to the fraudulent loans granted to children, DOGE identified another $333 million issued to borrowers who were reportedly over 115 years old at the time of application. One recipient was listed as 157 years old but was still marked as living in the Social Security database.
During his address to Congress, President Donald Trump pointed to significant issues within federal records, citing millions of individuals listed as older than 120 years, with some recorded as being over 360. Trump criticized the lack of oversight that allowed such blatant fraud to persist for years.
Musk’s DOGE team has been working to eliminate wasteful contracts, including a $10.3 million Department of Agriculture deal that had been awarded to “identify unnecessary contracts.” In a meeting with House Republicans, Musk said his team believes they can identify as much as $1 trillion in wasted government spending.
The SBA, now working with DOGE to resolve the fraudulent loans, has yet to disclose how these cases were approved under its watch.
