US loses over $200bn in stolen Covid-19 small business loans

We identified multiple schemes used by fraudsters to steal from the American taxpayer and exploit programs meant to help those in need,” the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) said in a new report.

The potentially fraudulent loans were disbursed through two Covid-19 programs, the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), according to the report published on Tuesday.

“Over $200-billion in potentially fraudulent Covid-19 EIDLs, EIDL Targeted Advances, Supplemental Targeted Advances, and PPP loans,” the SBA report said.

“This means at least 17 percent of all COVID-19 EIDL and PPP funds were disbursed to potentially fraudulent actors,” according to the SBA. The US government provided around $4.6-trillion of funding for pandemic response and recovery, according to a recent estimate by the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office (GAO).

Of this, around $90.5-billion in funding remained unspent as of January 2023, according to the GAO. The OIG’s oversight and investigative work resulted in more than 1,000 indictments, and 529 convictions related to Covid fraud, according to the SBA.

These investigations have resulted in “nearly $30-billion in Covid-19 EIDL and PPP funds being seized or returned to SBA,” the report found.

Source: SABC

In other news – DJ Sbu narrates how he almost lost his life

DJ Sbu’s near-death experience. DJ Sbu narrates how he almost lost his life in reaction to the shooting in Braamfontein in which a JMPD officer was killed.

The South African star said he was involved in a road rage in his early 20s while driving a luxurious car.
I was with my friends and a white man was driving badly. Learn more