No one knows how much of COVID-19 federal assistance was stolen. Estimates range from a laughable$ 100 billion to a far more realistic$ 500 billion. That’s 10 % of the$ 5.2 trillion in COVID assistance the government gave out from March 2020 to August 2022.  ,
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Given the large number of benefit programs, the amount may be far more than$ 500 billion.
If Congress does not extend the statute of limitations, which expires in March, the majority of those swindlers may be able to escape punishment for their acts. The date may pass before Congress is able to get everything sorted, and it has tied itself up in political knots.
There has been more than$ 100 billion ( perhaps as much as$ 150 billion ) in fraud relating to unemployment benefits. It was undoubtedly the most fraudulent government programme in history. After FPUC added a weekly supplement of$ 600 to the amount individuals received in state unemployment, as much as 20 % of the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation ( FPUC) program from the CARES Act was stolen.  ,
You practically can’t blame the scammers. No screening of those who would receive the benefit was done. They simply needed to fill out varieties and wait for the test. The government staff did check a list of criminals and other criminals to see if the person was listed. If no, the search was out the door and forgotten. The thief had recoup that more money each month.
To use a Washington word: The swine were truly feeding. Never has there been such a lot of theft with such little energy since the UN’s” Oil for Food” scandal. That scandal may have been as much as$ 50 billion stolen, but it doesn’t come close compared to the COVID grift.
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” Making the government more efficient isn’t a partisan issue — it’s an American issue”, Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla. ) said. While obstructing citizens, gaps in the rules allow fraudsters to escape with trillions in COVID treatment and unemployment insurance payouts.
Maryland’s attorney’s office announced indictments against two men accused of frauding over$ 1 million by applying for unemployment benefits under stolen identities in December alone. According to authorities, the fraud ran for the entire of March 2020 through September 2021.
A man is accused of claiming gains from September 2020 through March 2021 in New York under a false identification charge by the prosecution.
In Massachusetts, federal prosecutors announced the Dec. 13 detention of two Boston-area corrections officials on costs of bilking the employment system. According to the prosecution, one of her attempts was to conceal her identity in order to stop the state from discovering her employment while paying unemployment benefits.
A large portion of the money cannot be recovered because it was taken by nation-states. Russia, North Korea, China, and other places took full advantage of the stupidity and carelessness of the state.  ,
Inmates have allegedly stolen tens of millions of dollars. Normal people would claim benefits while claiming benefits under the identities of various people and make hundreds of thousands of dollars in profits.  ,
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The government justifies this by saying that the money needed to be released right away and be delivered to the poor person right away. In this case, “haste made colossal waste”.
Has someone in , state been fired for this tragedy?  , I asked.
No Julie Su, the former head of the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency, whose firm handled$ 80 billion in poverty states during the pandemic. Of that$ 180 billion, more than$ 32 billion was fraudulently given out. Despite the fact that criminals were ineligible for the cash, at least$ 2 billion was given to inmates in various state prisons. However, Ms. Su’s nomination as Secretary of Labor is a reward for her stupidity and stupidity.
Su was not confirmed, but she was “acting director” of the Labor Department for three times. Properly done, Jules.
” If you open up the bank windows and say, give me your program and simply promise me you really are who you say you are, you attract a lot of swindlers and that’s what happened around”, Michael Horowitz, the Justice Department’s inspector general, told the AP.
The House’s numerous bills extending the statute of limitations from five to ten have been stricken by administrative gimmicks and Democrat obstructionism.
The bill’s provisions were opposed by almost everyone in the party. One clause reduced the amount of money that was given to states to update their employment systems. Another would have required those who received overpayments, though not necessarily from scam, to pay back the money.
” Aren’t punish people who may be caught up in this online that was not of their making”, Rep. Earl Blumenauer, Oregon Democrat, said at the moment.
Some charges introduced in the Senate were bipartisan, but they never received significant legislation. One was introduced by Sen. Ron Wyden, Oregon Democrat, and Sen. Mike Crapo, Idaho Republican.
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In Taiwan, China, and other Eastern countries, even if you weren’t directly accountable for the scam, you would go to jail. In the U. S., no one has even been demoted for this ineptitude.
