Key Takeaways
- The US Cong has admitted that over $250bln in Covid-19 aid was stolen by fraudsters.
- The majority of the stolen aid was taken from the federal government’s unemployment system.
- At least $64 billion in US government money was stolen by fraudsters and criminals who took advantage of the Paycheck Protection Program.
Washington: More than $250 billion were stolen in the United States as a result of fraudulent schemes in government aid payments during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report by US congressmen following a two-year investigation.
“Fraudsters cost the American taxpayer more than $191 billion dollars by taking advantage of the federal government’s unemployment system and exploiting individuals’ personally identifiable information,” the report, published by the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, says.
In addition, at least $64 billion in US government money was stolen by fraudsters and criminals who took advantage of the so-called “Paycheck Protection Program,” which provided Americans with financial assistance in the form of loans that could be forgiven if the funds were used to compensate for the difficulties caused by the pandemic.
Another $200 million was “lost” due to insufficient control over support for small businesses.
On December 31, 2019, the Chinese authorities informed the WHO about an outbreak of unknown pneumonia in Wuhan, China. The first cases were connected to the local seafood market. In early January 2020, China announced that the outbreak was caused by a new type of coronavirus. On March 11, 2020, the WHO announced that the spread of the new coronavirus was of a pandemic nature.
