DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsWASHINGTON, Aug 23 (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department said on Wednesday it has seized over $1.4 billion in COVID-19 relief funds that criminals had stolen, and charged over 3,000 defendants with crimes in federal districts across the country. A total of 119 defendants pleaded guilty or were convicted at trial during the sweep, according to the Justice Department. Last year, the U.S. Justice Department tapped federal prosecutor Kevin Chambers to lead its efforts to investigate alleged fraud schemes targeting pandemic assistance programs. Over $200 billion from the U.S. government's COVID-19 relief programs were potentially stolen, a federal watchdog said in late June, adding that the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) had weakened its controls in a rush to disburse the funds. Earlier this year, a separate watchdog report said the U.S. government likely awarded about $5.4 billion in COVID-19 aid to people with questionable Social Security numbers.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Department's, General Merrick Garland, Garland, Kevin Chambers, government's, fraudsters, Kanishka Singh, Stephen Coates Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, U.S . Justice, The Justice Department, U.S, Justice Department, U.S . Justice Department, U.S . Small Business Administration, U.S . Labor Department, Social, Thomson Locations: COVID, United States, U.S, Washington

WASHINGTON, June 27 (Reuters) - Over $200 billion from the U.S. government's COVID-19 relief programs were likely stolen, a federal watchdog said on Tuesday, adding that the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) had weakened its controls in a rush to disburse the funds. The SBA disputed the more than $200 billion figure put forward by the watchdog and said the inspector general's approach had significantly overestimated fraud. The agency said its experts put the likely fraud estimate at $36 billion and added that over 86% of that likely fraud took place in 2020, when the administration for former President Donald Trump was in office. The fraud estimate put forward by the inspector general for the EIDL program stood at more than $136 billion while the PPP fraud estimate was $64 billion. Earlier this year, a separate watchdog report said the U.S. government likely awarded about $5.4 billion in COVID-19 aid to people with questionable Social Security numbers.

Persons: government's, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, General Merrick Garland, Kevin Chambers, fraudsters, Kanishka Singh, Aurora Ellis Organizations: U.S . Small Business Administration, SBA, Force, U.S . Justice Department, U.S . Labor Department, Social, Thomson Locations: United States, U.S, COVID, Washington

☆ More than $200 billion in Covid loans potentially stolen by fraudsters, watchdog says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Fraudsters potentially stole more than $200 billion in federal loans intended to help small businesses struggling during the Covid pandemic, a government watchdog said on Tuesday. More than $136 billion from Economic Injury Disaster Loan program and $64 billion from the Paycheck Protection Program loans was potentially stolen, the inspector general found. In total, SBA disbursed $400 billion in EIDL funds and $800 billion in Paycheck Protection Program loans during the life of the programs. These investigations have led to nearly $30 billion in stolen loans being seized or returned by federal law enforcement agencies. The Economic Injury Disaster Loan program provided low-interest, fixed-rate loans to help small businesses nd other organizations to help cover their operating expenses.

Persons: Kevin Chambers, Hannibal, Mike, Ware, Michael Horowitz, Roy D, Dotson Jr, Bailey DeVries, DeVries, Trump, nonpayment Organizations: Department of Justice, Small Business Administration, United States Secret, Small, Administration, Injury, SBA Locations: Rayburn, Washington ,

☆ U.S. watchdog identifies $5.4 billion in potentially fraudulent COVID-19 loans
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Kanishka Singh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Jan 30 (Reuters) - The U.S. government likely awarded about $5.4 billion in COVID-19 aid to people with questionable Social Security numbers, a federal watchdog said in a report released on Monday. The watchdog, the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC), said it "identified 69,323 questionable Social Security Numbers (SSNs) used to obtain $5.4 billion from the Small Business Administration's (SBA) COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (COVID-19 EIDL) program and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)." In May 2021, Attorney General Merrick Garland launched a COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force. In September, the inspector general for the U.S. Labor Department said fraudsters likely stole $45.6 billion from the United States' unemployment insurance program during the coronavirus outbreak by applying tactics like using Social Security numbers of deceased individuals. Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by David GregorioOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Fraudsters likely stole $45.6 billion from U.S. COVID unemployment insurance program
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Kanishka Singh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Shannon StapletonWASHINGTON, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Fraudsters likely stole $45.6 billion from the United States' unemployment insurance program during the COVID-19 pandemic by applying tactics like using Social Security numbers of deceased individuals, a federal watchdog said on Thursday. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register"We determined 205,766 Social Security numbers of deceased persons were used to file claims for UI (unemployment insurance) pandemic benefits," the report added. The United States' jobless aid program started in 2020 in the early days of the coronavirus outbreak. The United States is probing many fraud cases pegged to U.S. government assistance programs, such as the Paycheck Protection Program, unemployment insurance and Medicare. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Andrea RicciOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The Justice Department named Kevin Chambers, who had been associate deputy attorney general, as chief prosecutor for Covid-19 fraud Thursday. President Joe Biden said in his State of the Union address last week that Chambers would lead the charge against major perpetrators of pandemic fraud. We may not get all the money back, but that’s not the only value in bringing these cases," he said. The U.S. government spent $5 trillion to fight Covid-19, Chambers said, "so the numbers are going to be big." In explaining the importance of prosecuting Covid-19 fraud cases, Chambers rejected the notion that stealing from the government is a victimless crime.

Search resuls for: "Kevin Chambers"

6 mentions found