U. S. may spend $1.6 Billion to fight fraud on treatment from COVID
2023.03.02 14:44
U. S. may spend $1.6 Billion to fight fraud on treatment from COVID
By Kristina Sobol
Budrigannews.com – According to the White House, President Joe Biden intends to ask Congress for $1.6 billion in additional funding to assist victims of identity theft and combat fraud connected to U.S. pandemic relief programs.
The effort, which will be led by White House adviser Gene Sperling, will aim to show renewed toughness on pandemic fraud ahead of promised House Republicans investigations into the trillions of dollars in COVID-19 pandemic aid approved by both former President Donald Trump, a Republican, and Vice President Joe Biden, a Democrat.
The assistance paid for, among other things, increased unemployment benefits for workers and forgiven loans provided by the Paycheck Protection Program to businesses that retained employees.
According to the White House, the request for funding includes $600 million to assist in the investigation of criminal syndicates’ large-scale fraud, $600 million for protection against fraud and identity theft, and $400 million to assist victims of identity theft.
According to the White House, Biden also wants Congress to extend the time limit for serious pandemic unemployment insurance fraud to ten years.
The funds would enable the Justice Department’s COVID Strike Force teams to double in size. According to the White House, an investigation conducted by the task force resulted in the recovery of $286 million in stolen pandemic relief funds in one instance. Additionally, investigators have identified several equally significant cases.
The money would also be used to improve IdentityTheft.gov, which would make it easier for people to report identity theft and get personalized help recovering from it.
Numerous fraud cases linked to federal assistance programs like Medicare, unemployment insurance, and the Paycheck Protection Program are already under investigation in the United States.
In a report released last month, a federal watchdog stated that individuals with questionable Social Security numbers likely received approximately $5.4 billion in COVID aid.
The renewed focus on pandemic fraud has nothing to do with forthcoming Republican investigations, according to White House COVID aid coordinator Sperling.
Sperling stated, “We’ve been actively focused on this from day one.”
He said that he would start meeting with legislators on Thursday to talk about the legislative package.
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