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There were 718 enforcement actions related to $836 million in alleged COVID-19 fraud over the latest three-month period of enforcement, the U.S. Department of Justice said last week in announcing the results of efforts to combat pandemic-related fraud.
In total, the Justice Department has seized more than $1.4 billion in COVID-19 relief funds and charged more than 3,000 defendants with crimes in federal court, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco also announced two additional COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Strike Forces: one at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado, and one at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey.
There are now five strike forces, with the others in the Eastern and Central Districts of California, the Southern District of Florida and the District of Maryland.
“The law enforcement actions announced today reflect the Justice Department’s focus – working with our law enforcement partners nationwide – on bringing to justice those who stole from American businesses and families at a time of national emergency,” Monaco said in a statement. “The two new Strike Forces launched today will increase our reach as we continue to pursue fraudsters and recover taxpayer funds, no matter how long it takes.”
As part of the enforcement period between May and July, criminal charges were filed against 371 defendants, and 119 defendants pleaded guilty or were convicted at trial, the DOJ announcement said.
Many of the cases involved pandemic unemployment insurance benefit fraud, as well as fraud against the two largest pandemic Small Business Administration programs: the Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loans.
Other matters involved health care billing fraud and fraud against an emergency rental assistance program, the announcement said.
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