Just The News-
Both state and federal government agencies have facilitated massive criminal fraud over the past two years by paying out billions of dollars in COVID-19 relief funds to fraudsters who gamed the system.
Since COVID-19 hit the U.S. in early 2020, the federal government has created several initiatives to combat the devastating economic fallout of the pandemic. Due to lax oversight by several agencies at both the state and federal level, however, billions meant for alleviating Americans’ economic distress instead went to individuals who defrauded the government programs.
Much of the fraudulent activity occurred through the Small Business Administration (SBA), which is charged with overseeing several COVID-19 relief programs, including the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program (EIDL).
PPP provides forgivable loans to assist businesses during the pandemic, and EIDL provides accessible and borrower-friendly capital to nonprofits and small businesses recovering from the pandemic’s economic impacts. more here
It was a feature.
When ever there is this much money involved (so much that I don’t think anybody really knows how much) with a carnival barker yelling “FREE MONEY!” expect a LOT of piggies to line up to the trough!
Anyone who worked in business banking and dealt with SBA loans saw this massive fraud coming a mile off.
It was a feature, not a bug.