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From Relief to Rip-off: Startling Findings Uncover $420 Billion of Fraud and Waste in COVID-19 Spending
According to a new report, an estimated $420 billion in COVID-19-related spending may have been wasted through fraud and corruption. The Justice Department’s acting director for COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement, Mike Galdo, described this figure as an unprecedented amount of fraud.
The report indicates that over $280 billion was stolen through identity theft scams and fraudulent loan applications, while another $123 billion was wasted due to mismanagement and misappropriation. The total COVID-19 relief funds allocated amount to $5.2 trillion, with $1.15 trillion directly paid to individuals.
The Small Business Administration’s programs appear to have the highest share of abuse, likely because fraud protection measures were waived for faster relief. Investigations continue, and the SBA’s inspector general has over 800,000 actionable leads of fraud to investigate. Additionally, the recent budget deal includes a Republican initiative to claw back $27 billion in unspent and unallocated COVID-19 funds.