After bringing dozens of criminal charges against Paycheck Protection Program loan recipients in recent months, on January 12, the US Department of Justice announced its first civil settlement resolving allegations of PPP loan fraud.

In January 2020, we analyzed a split among the Circuit Courts regarding whether a non-debtor holding a debtor’s property on the petition date has an affirmative obligation under section 362(a)(3) of the Bankruptcy Code to return that property to the debtor immediately following the filing of the bankruptcy petition.