IG Report Found Fraudsters Got $78B in COVID Relief Funds
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Office of the Inspector General released a report on the agency’s response to the pandemic through the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program. The findings were brutal, but not surprising: with minimal oversight, fraudsters and abusers ran away with billions in taxpayer-funded relief. In total, the report found that the SBA handed as much as $78 billion to potential fraudsters and other non-eligible applicants — as hundreds of businesses nationwide were forced to shut down without funds to keep them afloat.