According to multiple outlets, the Secret Service recovered $286 million in Covid-19 relief loans meant for small businesses that were stolen by fraudsters, adding to the total of billions of dollars in pandemic relief funds that investigators say were fraudulent.
Kevin Chambers was appointed to be the Justice Department's Chief Pandemic Fraud Prosecutor.
Fraudsters used fake identities to apply for the Economic Injury Disaster Loans program and created accounts with the online bank Green Dot to hide the theft and move the money, according to the Secret Service.
$286 million was identified by the Secret Service and Green Dot.
According to NBC News, Roy Dotson, lead investigator with the Secret Service for Pandemic Fraud, said there were many actors and a lot of potential suspects.
Kevin Chambers, director for COVID-19 fraud enforcement at the Justice Department, said that the recovery was a direct and necessary response to the size and scope of the fraud.
A hundred billion. The Secret Service estimated how much had been taken from the relief programs.
The Covid Economic Injury Disaster Loan program was designed to help small businesses and private nonprofits recover from economic disaster as a result of the swine flu. Up to 2 million dollars in assistance was given to small businesses. According to NBC News, as much as $80 billion may have been taken from the program. More than one billion dollars in stolen funds have been seized by the Secret Service. The economic shutdown caused the White House to allocate $5 trillion of Covid relief to Americans through three different packages. The risk of fraud was increased when the programs were designed to deliver aid quickly and rely on self- reported information.
According to the New York Times, the federal government has charged 1,500 people with defrauding the programs with more than 450 convictions so far. Thousands of fraud tips still need to be waded through by federal investigators.
The Secret Service recovered $286 million in stolen loans.
The stolen Covid relief funds were recovered by the Secret Service.
Prosecutors are trying to catch up to a wave of fraudulent activity.
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