Secret Service Recovers $286 Million in Stolen COVID Funds

The Secret Service has recovered $286 million stolen by scammers from a COVID-19 recovery fund for small businesses.

Approximately $87 billion in Economic Injury Disaster Loans have gone missing since the federal program was formed in the COVID-19 pandemic’s early stages, NBC News reported.

The Secret Service announced Friday that it had traced the $286 million to Green Dot Bank in Texas, where 15,000 accounts were created using fake or stolen identities. After obtaining debit cards, the fraudsters were flagged by the bank when they siphoned off money from the EIDL program and attempted to access the funds.

PRISON INMATES INDICTED IN COVID BANK FRAUD CASE

The scheme is likely part of a larger national and international network, the Secret Service said.

“This is not going to be a quick fix,” said Assistant Special Agent in Charge Roy Dotson. “This is one case. … It’s going to be a long process.”

Earlier this year, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced 13 indictments against a California prison-based bank fraud ring charged with stealing more than $2 million in COVID-19 unemployment benefits using the identities of inmates and visitors.

An employee of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation was also implicated in the scheme by an informant who said the person provided names, birth dates, and Social Security numbers to the defendants, who then obtained debit cards with that information.

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Another COVID-19 fund created for small business personal expense loans was defrauded of $3.5 million and resulted in charges against an actor from the Power Rangers TV show of the 1990s. Austin St. John, who played the Red Power Ranger, was one of 18 people indicted after submitting phony applications for aid from the Paycheck Protection Program run by the Small Business Administration.