A staggering 371 Americans have been charged with stealing an estimated $836 million in COVID relief funds, including gang members who used the money to hire hit men, the Justice Department announced Wednesday.
The charges were the result of a three-month-long joint investigation conducted by law enforcement agencies across the country between May and July, according to the Justice Department.
The department has focused on “bringing to justice those who robbed American businesses and families at a time of national emergency,” said Assistant Attorney General Lisa Monaco.
Sixty-three of those facing charges include gang members and defendants with connections to violent crimes.
Some used the funds, meant to help struggling citizens and business owners, to pay for murder-for-hire plots, said acting director of the COVID-19 fraud-fighting task force Michael Galdo.
Assistant Attorney General Lisa Monaco said the Justice Department is working to find and convict more COVID relief scammers. PA
The Department of Justice has seized more than $1.4 billion in misused relief funds during the pandemic era and charged more than 3,000 Americans with fraud-related crimes.Christopher Sadowski
According to the Department of Justice, many of the alleged scammers misused pandemic unemployment insurance benefits, as well as funds from Small Business Administration programs, including the Paycheck Protection Program and loans. disaster for economic damages.
In total, the Justice Department has seized more than $1.4 billion in misused relief funds during the pandemic era and charged more than 3,000 Americans with fraud-related crimes since it began investigating such corruption.
The Paycheck Protection Program, also known as the PPP loan program, has been the source of some of the worst fraud.
A staggering 17% of the loans collected through the program — about $200 billion — were stolen by fraudsters, according to an Office of Small Business Administration report released last month.
Daniela Rendon, 31, pleaded guilty to wire fraud in connection with defrauding $381,000 in COVID relief money for luxuries and cosmetic procedures. Instagram/@danielarendonn
According to the report, the stolen money was spent on Lamborghinis, vacation homes, private jet flights and Cartier jewelry.
Of the 371 defendants who faced criminal charges for the three-month operation, 119 were convicted or pleaded guilty during the raid and another 117 were handled in civil court cases. Prosecutors and investigators seized more than $231.4 million in stolen funds, the Justice Department said.
Last week, Miami real estate broker Daniela Rendón, 31, was sentenced to three and a half years in prison for defrauding the government of $381,000 in COVID relief funds that she spent on a Bentley, a luxury apartment and cosmetic procedures.
“This latest action, involving more than 300 defendants and more than $830 million in alleged COVID-19 fraud, should send a clear message: The COVID-19 public health emergency may be over, but the job of the Department of Justice to identify and prosecute those who stole the pandemic Relief funds are far from over,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn