The U. S. Department of Justice now has an audit unit to look for fraud. At the helm, is Associate Deputy Attorney General Kevin Chambers. So far, there have been over a billion dollars in EIDL funds seized, criminal charges filed against more than 1,000 defendants, and 240 civil investigations into pandemic loan fraud. While estimates range from $8-10 billion in losses, many believe that is a conservative estimate.
So what is going to make the DOJ pull your file? This was the DOJ’s official statement: “Chambers plans to focus on large-scale criminal enterprises and foreign actors who sought to profit at the expense of the American people. This will include establishing strike teams to prepare for the next phase in the Justice Department’s efforts to fight pandemic fraud.”
While that statement may have some breathing a sigh of relief, I would say not so fast. Just days later, the DOJ talked about filing charges against 2 businesses who had received PPP loans for $170,000 and $430,000. One was charged under the False Claims Act and the other with fraudulently obtaining PPP loans.
That being said, these are some specific identifiers the DOJ will be looking for:
6-7 figure loan amounts
Forged Documents
False Certification
Padding Worker Counts
It sure is!
So speaking of fraud with the US Government - this hit the wire today:
Konstantinos Zarkadas, MD, of Glen Cove, N.Y., was sentenced to spend 51 months in prison and repay $3.5 million in restitution for COVID-19 emergency relief fraud, the Justice Department said March 18.
Dr. Zarkadas pleaded guilty in November 2021, the Justice Department said. Between March 2020 and July 2020, he applied for, and received, disaster relief loans under the Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program based on fraudulent information.
He used more than $194,000 in PPP funds to finance a down payment on a $1.75 million yacht, the department said. He also used the money to pay more than $1 million in judgments…
And they should track these crooks down and bring them to justice! There are too many businesses that really struggled (some are still struggling) because of Covid and they needed these funds to stay in business. When I hear stories about an entrepreneur who used these kinds of funds for personal gain I really shake my head at the stupidity of it all. Just hard to fathom this level of greed.