Nearly 500 charged with pandemic-related fraud: DOJ

Nearly 500 people have been charged with coronavirus-related fraud, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

The DOJ said in a statement on Friday that it has charged 474 defendants with criminal offenses over fraud schemes across 56 federal districts.

At least 120 defendants have been charged with fraud related to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), a provision of the $2.2 trillion CARES Act aimed at helping small businesses keep workers on their payrolls. The department also said that more than 140 defendants have been charged with unemployment insurance fraud.

The DOJ also said that the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado and the Secret Service have seized more than $580 million in proceeds from fraudulent applications for the Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) program. Those were designed for small businesses and agricultural and nonprofit entities.

On top of that, the DOJ has brought civil and criminal enforcement actions against scams targeting American consumers, including those that sold products using false or unapproved claims about their abilities to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

“The impact of the department’s work to date sends a clear and unmistakable message to those who would exploit a national emergency to steal taxpayer-funded resources from vulnerable individuals and small businesses,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.

“We are committed to protecting the American people and the integrity of the critical lifelines provided for them by Congress, and we will continue to respond to this challenge,” he said

The department ramped up its pandemic fraud efforts after Congress last March passed the $2.2 trillion CARES Act, which provided assistance to Americans who were struggling as the pandemic progressed in its early days.

The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan passed earlier this month expanded unemployment benefits through September, provided more funding for the PPP program, and extended the EIDL program.