'Biggest fraud in a generation': The looting of the Covid relief plan known as PPP (NBC News)

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

Theft from the Covid relief plan known as PPP was even worse than we thought

WWW.NBCNEWS.COM

---

The official in charge of Covid relief tells NBC News' Lester Holt that programs like PPP were structured in ways that were "an invitation" to fraudsters.

 

Quote

 

Many who participated in what prosecutors are calling the largest fraud in American history—the theft of hundreds of billions of dollars in taxpayer money intended to help those harmed by the pandemic — couldn’t resist purchasing luxury automobiles. Also mansions, private jet flights and swanky vacations.

 

They came into their riches by participating in what experts say is the theft of as much as $80 billion — or about 10 percent — of the $800 billion handed out in a Covid relief plan known as the Paycheck Protection Program. That’s on top of the $90 billion to $400 billion believed to have been stolen from the $900 billion Covid unemployment relief program — at least half taken by international fraudsters — as NBC News reported last year. And another $80 billion potentially pilfered from a separate Covid disaster relief program.

 

Even if the highest estimates are inflated, the total fraud on all Covid relief funds amounts to a mind-boggling sum of taxpayer money that could rival the $579 billion in federal funds included in President Joe Biden’s massive, 10-year infrastructure spending plan, according to prosecutors, government watchdogs and private experts who are trying to plug the leaks.

 

“Nothing like this has ever happened before,” said Matthew Schneider, a former U.S. attorney from Michigan now with Honigman LLP. “It is the biggest fraud in a generation.”

 

Most of the losses are considered unrecoverable, but there is still a chance to stanch the bleeding, because federal officials say $600 billion is still waiting to go out the door. The Biden administration imposed new verification rules in 2021 that administration officials say appear to have made a difference in curbing fraud. But they acknowledge that programs in 2020 sacrificed security for speed, needlessly.

 

Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz, who oversees Covid relief spending, told "NBC Nightly News" anchor Lester Holt in an exclusive interview that Covid relief programs were structured in ways that made them ripe for plunder.

 

 

[b_m_b_m_b_m]

I Clearly missed the boat here so lock them up

[outsida]

Waits for conservatives to blame Biden for a program administered by the Trump administration. 

[Mr.Vic20]

How did Obama pull this off?! 

[Uaarkson]

Biggest fraud in American history…so far!

[Jason]

Wow I can't believe Hunter ripped off the taxpayers like that.

[Chris-]

Still worth it.

 

 

Also, fund the IRS and fuck the ever-living-hell out of these people.

[Air_Delivery]

These people are going to get hunted down as most of them are shit at fraud. 

[Jason]

8 minutes ago, Air_Delivery said:

These people are going to get hunted down as most of them are shit at fraud. 

 

[DarkStar189]

The amount of that money that was stolen is insane. What a shit show. 

[Air_Delivery]

The people who are good at it will probably get off scot free. But this had thousands of idiots doing it. Just because they haven't got them yet doesn't mean the won't.

This is the kind of thing the IRS lives for because its relatively easy. It isn't like going after billionaires laundering money.

[Guest]

I know a couple of people who got two PPP first draws from the same bank on one application, two different SBA numbers, identical amounts, but one application.

 

The entire thing was a mess from start to finish. Maybe @Chris-is right though that it was worth it. I haven’t myself seen any studies yet on the impact of PPP specifically.

[Chris-]

9 minutes ago, sblfilms said:

I know a couple of people who got two PPP first draws from the same bank on one application, two different SBA numbers, identical amounts, but one application.

 

The entire thing was a mess from start to finish. Maybe @Chris-is right though that it was worth it. I haven’t myself seen any studies yet on the impact of PPP specifically.

 

I wouldn't argue that PPP specifically was worth it, just that the general concept of turning on the money machine is what allowed us to ultimately avoid an even bigger catastrophe.

[Kal-El814]

Isn’t this the plot of The Batman?

[b_m_b_m_b_m]

9 hours ago, Chris- said:

 

I wouldn't argue that PPP specifically was worth it, just that the general concept of turning on the money machine is what allowed us to ultimately avoid an even bigger catastrophe.

Agreed. And despite what some “they only gave us $1200” dumbasses on twitter say, we have the best economic recovery in the developed world because of our unparalleled (even when comparing support to states with automatic stabilizers relative to GDP) support mechanisms like PPP, stimmys, CTC, and enhanced UI.