NBC News
A couple who founded an Arizona-based financial technology firm in the early days of the pandemic raked in an estimated $120 million in processing fees from handing out billions in Paycheck Protection Program loans even though their company did little to police fraud, according to a congressional report released Thursday.
The report from the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis says the “fintech” firm Blueacorn transferred $300 million in profit to its owners but spent less than 1 percent of the fees it collected on fraud prevention, hiring only “one direct employee who assisted with processing PPP loan applications” for the 1.7 million loans it reviewed.
At the same time, even though the program was meant to help small businesses survive the pandemic, the report says smaller loan applicants were disdained by Blueacorn, with staff writing, “delete them,” “Who f—— cares” and, “we’re not the first bank to decline borrowers who deserve to be funded. … they go elsewhere.”