The U.S. government allotted more than $5 trillion to economic relief programs meant to counter the damage from the COVID-19 virus that apparently originated in Wuhan, China.
So fraudsters weren’t using their schemes to go after $1,000 or $5,000,
They were going after millions, and more.
Now a report at Just the News confirmed “undetermined billions” were siphoned, fraudulently, into the private accounts crooks had set up.
“Biggest fraud that the country’s seen,” charged Americans for Tax Reform.
Dan Savickas, of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, said in the Just the News report that, “The U.S. federal government has already dedicated over $5 trillion to combating the COVID-19 pandemic. “These funds came with very few safeguards to ensure they ended up in the hands of families and businesses that actually needed it.”
He explained, by the numbers, “It is estimated that every dollar of wages saved by the relief money cost American taxpayers $4.13. This is not to mention also the inflation that came as a result of this profligate spending.”
And he pointed out, “Too many special interests were able to take advantage of the language of these relief bills to line their pockets, leaving taxpayers on the hook. This is just the waste we know about.”
The report explained that already, more than 1,000 defendants have been accused criminally of unemployment insurance fraud, with the loss estimated at $45.6 billion.
Another $3.7 billion was “burned” by the Federal Emergency Management Agency in fraudulent payouts, and $1 billion was sent to foreign applicants.
“At least $163 billion in pandemic UI benefits may have been improperly paid, with a significant amount due to fraud, according to a report by the Labor Department inspector general,” the report explained.
And a House committee has reported estimates of $84 billion taken from the Paycheck Protection Program through fraud.
Mike Palicz, of Americans for Tax Reform, told Just the News that it was no “exaggeration that this is probably the biggest fraud that the country’s seen. The top voter issue right now is inflation. To have that driven by spending that’s gone to record-setting fraud is infuriating.”
Savickas warned that the full extent of the fraud “may never be” uncovered.
Just the News reported, “David Williams, president of Taxpayers Protection Alliance, told the ‘Just the News, Not Noise’ TV show on Wednesday that the government was ‘so anxious to spend money, but they’re not anxious to do the oversight.’”
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