More than $200 billion has been stolen from US government aid programs related to the COVID-19 virus, an inspector general said Tuesday, adding that the US Small Business Administration has pushed out the money almost unchecked during the coronavirus outbreak.
According to a report published by the SBA’s Office of Inspector General, at least 17 percent of the funds from the EIDL loan and the PPP Payments Protection Program that was set up to remedy the economic damage from the coronavirus were taken illegally.
During the pandemic, the Small Business Administration has spent nearly $1.2 trillion in EIDL and PPP funds.
According to a Reuters article The Small Business Administration disputed the agency’s figure of more than $200 billion, saying the inspector general overestimated the extent of the fraud. The agency estimated the amount of potential fraud at about $36 billion and added that more than 86 percent of the fraud occurred in 2020, when US President Donald Trump was in office.
It is estimated that more than $136 billion has been defrauded under the EIDL program, while fraud in PPP is estimated at $64 billion.
The United States is investigating a number of fraud cases related to US government aid programs: In May 2021, Attorney General Merrick Garland launched the Covid-19 Fraud Task Force.
Last year, the US Department of Justice tapped federal prosecutor Kevin Chambers to lead an investigation into the alleged fraud. In September 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor Inspector General said fraudsters likely stole $45.6 billion from the Unemployment Insurance Program during the coronavirus pandemic. Also in September, federal prosecutors charged dozens of people with stealing $250 million from a state aid program that was supposed to support children in need during the pandemic.
