The US Secret Service recovers millions in aid against covid-19

() — US Secret Service investigators have seized $286 million in illegally obtained coronavirus pandemic relief funds, the agency announced Friday.

An investigation conducted by the service’s field office in Orlando, Florida determined that the conspirators fraudulently submitted applications for pandemic relief loans to small businesses “using falsified or stolen personal and employment information,” according to the agency. The US Secret Service said the criminals used a third-party payment system and more than 15,000 accounts to hide and move the illegal funds.

The US Secret Service has stepped up its efforts to go after criminals who illegally obtained pandemic relief funds, two years after the coronavirus pandemic began.

“Since 2020, the Secret Service has seized more than $1.4 billion in fraudulently obtained funds and assisted in the return of approximately $2.3 billion to state unemployment insurance programs,” the agency said Friday, noting which had initiated nearly 4,000 investigations.

David Smith, deputy director of the US Secret Service’s Bureau of Investigations, said that by helping to return nearly $2.3 billion in stolen funds over the last 30 months, the agency has shown “a clear and strong commitment to the vitality of American business across the country.

“The Secret Service is dedicated to safeguarding the integrity of the nation’s financial systems against fraud and holding those responsible accountable for their criminal activity,” Smith said in a statement.

Earlier this month, President Joe Biden signed two bipartisan bills into law to tackle fraudulent criminal acts committed under pandemic relief programs. Both laws extend the time available to prosecutors to prosecute people who have committed fraud through the Paycheck Protection Program or the Covid-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, extending the statute of limitations to 10 years. criminal and civil action against a borrower.

In December, the US Secret Service appointed a senior official, Roy Dotson, to work with law enforcement agencies across the country on this matter. In April, federal prosecutors indicted 21 people for allegedly attempting to defraud government health care programs of $149 million through various pandemic-related scams, including selling fake COVID-19 vaccination cards and presenting of requests for unnecessary medical tests.

In March 2021, a year after the passage of the $2 trillion financial aid law, the CARES Act, federal investigators identified more than $500 million in fraud and charged 474 people with crimes related to the theft of money from programs aid for covid-19.

— ‘s Chandelis Duster contributed to this report.