GOP lawmaker queries DOJ on $280B lost in COVID relief funds.
Chairman of House Subcommittee Calls for DOJ Action on COVID-19 Relief Fraud
Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio), the chairman of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, is demanding answers from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) regarding the recovery of an estimated $280 billion in U.S. COVID-19 relief funds that were allegedly funneled to criminals both domestically and internationally.
In a letter addressed to Attorney General Merrick Garland, Mr. Wenstrup urged the DOJ to provide a comprehensive account of all ongoing and past investigations into the misappropriation of taxpayer funds within COVID-19 relief programs. The congressman referenced a June analysis by the Associated Press, which estimated that approximately $280 billion of U.S. COVID-19 relief spending had been lost to fraudulent schemes conducted both within and outside the country.
Furthermore, Mr. Wenstrup cited a 2021 report by NBC News, which claimed that a significant portion of the fraudulently obtained COVID-19 relief funds had ended up in the hands of Russian, Chinese, and Nigerian criminal organizations.
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“Some of these fraudulent actors were based outside the United States and may involve international criminal organizations. Estimates imply that at least half of all stolen COVID-19 relief funds went to Russian, Chinese, and Nigerian criminals,” he wrote.
The U.S. government has been diligently working to account for over $4 trillion in COVID-19 relief spending. In addition to the $280 billion lost to fraud, the Associated Press estimated that an additional $123 billion was wasted or misused.
In a March 2022 press release, the DOJ announced that it had successfully recovered approximately $8 billion in COVID-19 relief funds through a combination of criminal prosecutions and civil enforcement actions. However, this recovery effort represents only about three percent of the potentially lost funds, and it remains unclear how much has been recovered from foreign criminal actors.
“It is highly concerning that possibly billions of taxpayer dollars intended to help Americans suffering the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic were stolen by organized criminal rings in foreign countries,” expressed the Republican lawmaker. “Therefore, we write today to better understand the full scope of this problem and what actions the Department has taken to investigate international COVID-19 relief program fraud and hold these foreign actors accountable.”
Mr. Wenstrup has requested that the DOJ provide a detailed breakdown of current and closed COVID-19 fraud cases, including the countries involved and estimated dollar values of missing relief funds.
The DOJ continues to pursue new cases to recover COVID-19 relief funds. Just last week, the department announced a nationwide enforcement effort resulting in 718 actions against 371 defendants, targeting alleged fraud offenses that led to the misallocation of approximately $836 million.
Despite these ongoing efforts, the U.S. still has a long way to go in recovering all the funds lost to COVID-19 fraud schemes. The process of recovering these funds could take years, assuming they can be fully recovered at all.
“The COVID-19 public health emergency may have ended, but the Justice Department’s work to identify and prosecute those who stole pandemic relief funds is far from over,” stated Mr. Garland when announcing the latest anti-fraud initiatives by the DOJ.
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