The New American
Nearly $100 billion of the $3.5 trillion given out by the U.S. government for COVID relief programs has been stolen since the beginning of the pandemic, the Secret Service revealed on Tuesday.
According to a press release on the matter,
“The Secret Service currently has more than 900 active criminal investigations into fraud specific to pandemic-related relief funds,” said Roy Dotson, Assistant Special Agent in Charge. “That’s a combination of pandemic benefits and all the other benefits programs too. Every state has been hit, some harder than others. The Secret Service is hitting the ground running, trying to recover everything we can, including funds stolen from both federal and state programs.”
The stolen funds were diverted mainly from unemployment insurance (UI), the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program, and other benefit programs set up to dole out government funds nationwide.
So far, the Secret Service has been able to seize more than $1.2 billion and return more than $2.3 billion of fraudulently obtained funds and arrest 100 individuals responsible for unemployment insurance and SBA loan fraud.
The Secret Service has tapped Assistant Special Agent in Charge (ASAIC) Roy Dotson to lead the pandemic fraud investigation and recovery effort, per the release. Exploitation of pandemic-related relief is said to be “an investigative priority” for the Secret Service and its partners.
Since the fraud happens online, the Secret Service has established a Cyber Fraud Task Force (CFTF) partnering with federal and local authorities, as well as foreign law enforcement, academic, and private-sector partners which, per the Service, has already prevented “billions in financial loss.”…READ FULL ARTRICLE HERE…- The New American
