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The greatest grift in US history: $400 billion in pandemic relief fraud and waste

(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

The Small Business Administration (SBA) has issued a report which concludes $200 billion of the $1.2 trillion it spent during the pandemic was the result of fraud.

The federal government squandered more than $200 billion in potential fraud in its aggressive rush to prop up small businesses as the COVID-19 pandemic threatened to shatter the U.S. economy, according to a report published Tuesday by the inspector general of the Small Business Administration…

The report focuses on two programs created at the advent of the pandemic to support small businesses, both under the SBA’s purview: the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL).

According to the report, there was a higher potential fraud in the EIDL program, which was a low-interest disaster loan that would later require repayment. The inspector general’s office estimated there was $136 billion of potential fraud in the EIDL program, representing 33% of the total funds dispersed to businesses.

For PPP, which gave money to businesses that would later be forgiven — similar to a grant — the estimate of potential fraud was lower: around $64 billion, representing 8% of the total funds sent out.

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