Nearly $ 100 billion has been stolen from budget COVID-19 relief programs set up to help businesses and people affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
According to Roy Dotson, the U.S. Secret Service Pandemic Fraud Coordinator, scammers have stolen approximately 3% of the $ 3.4 trillion allocated by the government to support businesses and people affected by COVID-19. Most of the fraudulent claims were made for unemployment payments.
The Labor Department reported about $87 billion in unemployment benefits could have been paid improperly.
– The amount stolen from pandemic benefits programs shows the sheer size of the pot is enticing to the criminals, – Dotson said.
To date, the Secret Service has confiscated more than $ 1.2 billion in unemployment insurance and loan fraud investigations. The Service is investigating more than 900 cases of pandemic-related fraud across the country.
The United States Secret Service is a federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security. The tasks of the service include the protection of high-ranking officials and the prevention of financial crimes. Until 2003, the Secret Service was part of the Department of the Treasury.
