Government Funneled Unprecedented Amount Of Money To Criminal Gangs Through COVID Relief, Oversight Report Finds; They Scammed Millions From the Feds in COVID Loans Around Charlotte. It Was Easy At First, and other C-Virus related stories

By admin On Dec 29, 2024

Government Funneled Unprecedented Amount Of Money To Criminal Gangs Through COVID Relief, Oversight Report Finds:

The U.S. federal government sent an unprecedented amount of money to fraudsters and international criminal gangs through COVID-19 relief programs, according to a Friday report from the American Enterprise Institute (AEI).

The government provided an estimated $872 billion in assistance through programs like the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), at least 17% of which — amounting to nearly $200 billion — was “disbursed to potentially fraudulent actors,” AEI’s Matt Weidinger wrote, quoting an after action review from the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic under the Committee on Oversight and Accountability.

While Weidinger said much of that money aided needy Americans affected by COVID-related shutdowns, he also noted that “unprecedented amounts were lost to improper payments and fraud.”

🚨ICYMI: The Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic released recommendations for improving public health and pandemic response.

Read here: https://t.co/u1OnK995dy pic.twitter.com/Km2cVKj66o

— Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic (@COVIDSelect) December 5, 2024

COVID relief programs proved vulnerable to widespread fraud due to minimal oversight and allowing grantees to self-certify their eligibility for payments, Weidinger wrote. International criminal enterprises were particularly successful at exploiting pandemic relief programs.

“Transitional criminal networks engaged in large-scale operations that submitted fraudulent claims, laundered illicit funds through financial systems, and transferred proceeds across borders,” the Oversight Committee wrote in their report. —>READ MORE HERE

They scammed millions from the feds in COVID loans around Charlotte. It was easy at firsT:

During the height of COVID in March 2021, Spenc’r Rickerson wore a mask just like all the people did in a Newton BB&T bank branch. Then he walked up to the teller, pulled out a handgun and demanded money before fleeing with $3,350, court records show.

His other pandemic-related crime involved paperwork. He filled out fraudulent COVID loan applications and in return, the government sent him more than $84,000.

Apparently, that was easier than robbing a bank.

In fact, COVID relief fraud has proven to be a multibillion-dollar industry nationwide, according to the feds, and crooks in the Carolinas wanted to get their share.

In the Western District of North Carolina, U.S. Attorney Dena J. King’s office in Charlotte has so far charged over 30 people in COVID fraud cases, with more than 20 sentenced to prison for as long as a decade. As of December, there were about 10 cases still pending trial.

The total amount alleged to have been stolen by people charged in the Western District is more than $15 million, according to King’s office.

Some defendants spent money on plastic surgery or liposuction. Others lavished funds on their family, splurged on trips or bought cars, jewelry and cryptocurrency, The Charlotte Observer found in a review of court documents and in interviews with King and other federal officials.