Scammers Believed to Have Taken More Than $200 Billion in COVID Relief Funding: Report
A report released by the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General (OIG) found that more than $200 billion of COVID relief funding meant for struggling businesses was taken by scammers. In the…
A report released by the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General (OIG) found that more than $200 billion of COVID relief funding meant for struggling businesses was taken by scammers.
In the 43-page report released Tuesday, Inspector General Hannibal “Mike” Ware writes that of the $1.2 trillion distributed by the SBA for the COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds, 17% of the funds were “disbursed to potentially fraudulent actors.”
“The economic assistance was intended to help eligible small business owners and entrepreneurs” who had been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, said the Inspector General in regards to the SBA’s COVID-relief programs.
There were roughly 4.5 million cases of potentially fraudulent loan and grants issued from the COVID-relief programs, the Inspector General said.
As a result of the OIG’s Investigation, “1,011 indictments, 803 arrests, and 529 convictions” were made having to do with PPL and EIDL Fraud, the Inspector General in the report.
Roughly “$30 billion in COVID-19 EIDL and PPP funds” have been recovered and returned back to the SBA, the report said.