Over $200B In Covid-19 Small Business Loans Stolen: US Govt. Watchdog

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The United States has lost more than $200 billion to fraud in two programs designed to help small businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a new Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) report. The potentially fraudulent loans were disbursed through the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), the report said.

The investigative efforts of the OIG have resulted in over 1,000 indictments, 529 convictions, and nearly $30 billion in Covid-19 EIDL and PPP funds being seized or returned to SBA. With total government pandemic response and recovery funding standing at around $4.6 trillion, according to estimates from the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office, it is estimated that over 17 percent of those funds may have been wasted.

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