The sum is enormous: nearly two hundred billion dollars were fraudulently paid out to SMEs in the United States as part of the assistance provided during the Covid-19 pandemic. The report from the agency in charge of small and medium-sized enterprises is eloquent.
The scale of the fraud is unbelievable. More than 1,200 billion dollars were paid out to support American businesses during the pandemic in the United States, and almost 20% of the total envelope was affected by fraud. This new estimate is much higher than the one made at the end of 2022, which put the total amount of fraud at around $100 billion.
The story is very simple: thousands of companies have committed fraud by lying about their situation in order to take advantage of loans at preferential rates, or assistance in maintaining employees’ salaries.
These large sums can be explained by the weakening of controls during the pandemic, as the Trump administration opened the floodgates of benefits to limit the damage. In total, $4.6 trillion was spent in various forms to support the American economy.
Remember that over 20 million Americans lost their jobs. The report adds that nearly 86% of these frauds took place during the first nine months of the health crisis.
To date, hundreds of people have been arrested, and more than $30 billion has been recovered. Investigations are continuing, notes the agency in charge of controls, which points out that the total estimate of fraud may yet evolve.
Comment here