A total of 371 Americans have been charged with stealing about $836 million in COVID relief funds – including members of a group that used the money to hire hitmen, the Justice Department announced Wednesday.
The charges are the result of a three-month joint investigation conducted by law enforcement agencies across the country from May to July, according to the DOJ.
The department has focused on “bringing to justice those who steal from American businesses and families at a time of national emergency,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said.
Sixty-three of those facing charges include gang members and defendants with ties to violent crimes.
Some used the funds — meant to help struggling citizens and business owners — to pay for murder-for-hire plots, said acting director of the COVID-19 fraud enforcement task force Michael Galdo.
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said the DOJ is working to find and convict more fraudsters of COVID relief funds. AP
The Justice Department has seized more than $1.4 billion in misused pandemic-era relief funds and charged more than 3,000 Americans with crimes related to the fraud.Christopher Sadowski
Many of the alleged fraudsters misused pandemic unemployment insurance benefits as well as funds from Small Business Administration programs including the Wage Protection Program and economic injury disaster loans, according to the Justice Department.
In all, the DOJ has seized more than $1.4 billion in misused pandemic-era relief funds and charged more than 3,000 Americans with crimes related to the fraud since it began investigating such corruption.
The Payroll Protection Program, also known as the PPP loan program, has been the source of some of the worst scams.
A staggering 17% of loans issued from the program – about $200 billion – were stolen by fraudsters, according to a report from the Small Business Administration published last month.
Daniela Rendon, 31, pleaded guilty to wire fraud in connection with paying $381,000 in COVID relief money for luxury and cosmetic procedures. Instagram/@danielarendonn
The stolen cash was blown on Lamborghinis, vacation homes, private jet flights and Cartier jewelry, according to the report.
Of the 371 defendants facing criminal charges from the three-month sting, 119 were convicted or pleaded guilty during the sweep and another 117 were handled in civil court cases. Prosecutors and investigators recovered more than $231.4 million in stolen funds, the DOJ said.
Last week, Miami real estate broker Daniela Rendon, 31, was sentenced to three and a half years in prison for defrauding the government of $381,000 in COVID relief funds she spent on a Bentley, a luxury apartment and cosmetic procedures.
“This latest action, involving more than 300 defendants and more than $830 million in alleged COVID-19 fraud, should send a clear message: the public health emergency of COVID-19 may be over, but the Justice Department’s work to identify and prosecute those who stole the epidemic . relief funds have not yet ended,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland in a statement.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
