Covid relief funds defrauded of more than £157bn, says US watchdog
More than 200 billion US dollars (£157 billion) may have been stolen from two large Covid-19 relief initiatives, according to new estimates from a federal watchdog investigating federally funded programmes that helped small businesses survive the worst public health crisis in more than a hundred years.
The numbers issued on Tuesday by the US Small Business Administration (SBA) inspector general are much greater than the office’s previous projections and underscore how vulnerable the paycheck protection (PPP) and Covid-19 economic injury disaster loan (Covid-EIDL) programmes were to fraudsters, particularly during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic.
