{"id":2635651,"date":"2026-07-26T11:14:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T15:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/feds-recover-less-than-1-of-400-billion-in-covid-relief-funds-lost-to-fraudsters\/"},"modified":"2026-07-26T11:18:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T15:18:11","slug":"feds-recover-less-than-1-of-400-billion-in-covid-relief-funds-lost-to-fraudsters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/feds-recover-less-than-1-of-400-billion-in-covid-relief-funds-lost-to-fraudsters\/","title":{"rendered":"Feds Recover Less Than 1% of $400 Billion+ in COVID Relief Funds Lost to Fraudsters"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffeds-recover-less-than-1-of-400-billion-in-covid-relief-funds-lost-to-fraudsters%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2635651&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The provided content describes a report highlighting widespread fraud in COVID-19 relief programs in the United States. It details the case of Carl Delano Torjagbo, who stole $13 million through fake business claims and false tax filings, purchasing luxury vehicles and plastic surgery. Despite serving nearly 15 years in prison and being ordered to pay restitution, many similar schemes likely remain undiscovered.<\/p>\n<p>The analysis states that, according to official estimates, about $300 billion-roughly 6.5% of the $4.6 trillion allocated for pandemic relief-was lost to fraud, with some estimates suggesting total losses could approach $1 trillion. This includes fraudulent claims in programs like the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL), unemployment benefits, and state\/local aid under the American Rescue Plan, frequently enough exploited by international criminals.<\/p>\n<p>Weak oversight and oversight gaps, especially in multi-agency and state-managed initiatives, have hampered accurate accounting of these losses. The report emphasizes that a important portion of relief funds, possibly over $200 billion, was stolen, and many cases remain undetected. COVID relief fraud represented a significant drain on federal resources, with widespread implications for government accountability and taxpayer funds.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><br \/>\n<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\"><br \/>\n<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><html><body><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Carl Delano Torjagbo stole $13 million in COVID relief funds and false tax filing based on a fake overseas gold mining business with celebrities like Keanu Reeves among its 493 fictional employees. He also bought himself a Lamborghini Aventador, a BMW M850xi, and $15,000 worth of plastic surgery.<\/p>\n<p>Torjagbo is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/usao-ndga\/pr\/marietta-scam-artist-sentenced-nearly-15-years-federal-prison-13-million-ppp-fraud-and\">serving<\/a> a nearly 15-year prison sentence and has been ordered to pay $3.7 million in restitution. But a new <a href=\"https:\/\/substack.com\/home\/post\/p-206721980\">analysis<\/a> by Open the Books (OTB) suggests there are hundreds, maybe thousands, more Torjagbos out there who, to date, have gotten away with defrauding the federal government out of far more than the official government estimate of $300 billion lost in COVID relief programs like the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).<\/p>\n<p>Under both Presidents Donald Trump and his successor Joe Biden, \u201cCongress <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gao.gov\/assets\/gao-23-106647.pdf\">authorized<\/a> about $4.6 trillion in emergency COVID-19 relief between 2020 and 2021 for vulnerable businesses and struggling families, but fraud was identified in at least 19 different pandemic-relief programs, according to an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gao.gov\/products\/gao-25-107746\">April 2025 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report<\/a>. If the government\u2019s $300 billion fraud calculation is correct, then 6.5% of all pandemic aid was incorrectly distributed. What we have compiled is just a fraction of the hundreds of charged cases and undetected schemes,\u201d OTB cautioned in its report.<\/p>\n<p>Using the $300 billion official estimate, that works out to $2,260 for each of the 135 million U.S. households. In a previous report, however, OTB exposed $400 billion in fraud, so the total cost per household could be $3,013, according to the nonprofit government watchdog. If, as seems likely given the qualifications of the official estimates from GAO and other government sources, the actual total could approach $1 trillion, meaning the cost for every American household could approach $10,000.<\/p>\n<p>The Small Business Administration (SBA) was a major focal point of federal assistance during the pandemic, and two of the biggest such programs included its PPP and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) operation. Both programs were frequent targets of fraudsters in the U.S. and <a href=\"https:\/\/acrobat.adobe.com\/id\/urn:aaid:sc:US:3a07b4bb-b4b5-4390-97af-5300a206b32a?x_api_client_id=chrome_extension_viewer&#038;x_api_client_location=\">overseas,<\/a> including in Russia, China, Nigeria, and other countries. Between them, the two programs disbursed more than $1.2 trillion in tax-funded assistance.<\/p>\n<p>The OTB analysis pointed to a report by SBA\u2019s Inspector General (IG) who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sba.gov\/document\/report-23-09-covid-19-pandemic-eidl-ppp-loan-fraud-landscape#%3A~%3Atext%3DWe%20estimate%20that%20SBA%20disbursed%2Cdisbursed%20to%20potentially%20fraudulent%20actors\">claimed<\/a> 17% of all the PPP and EIDL spending, or approximately $200 billion, exhibited signs of fraudulent activity. The OTB analysis, however, reported that \u201can estimated $136 billion was stolen by criminals, con artists, and crime rings from around the world\u201d \u2014 just from the PPP program.<\/p>\n<p>A major obstacle to getting accurate numbers for the actual total lost to fraud at SBA is the agency\u2019s weak oversight processes of the PPP and EIDL expenditures, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/files.gao.gov\/reports\/GAO-25-106199\/index.html?_gl=1%2A1of2z1x%2A_ga%2ANDUyMDI5NTkwLjE3NjEyMzAwNTc.%2A_ga_V393SNS3SR%2AczE3ODA5NDE4OTEkbzY0JGcxJHQxNzgwOTQzODM5JGoxOSRsMCRoMA\">GAO.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Similar losses to fraud were reported in the OTB analysis of the Department of Labor\u2019s pandemic programs. \u201cCongress created four new and temporary emergency unemployment insurance programs in the wake of the pandemic, including Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), which extended benefits to gig workers and the self-employed. Open the Books <a href=\"https:\/\/www.openthebooks.com\/assets\/1\/6\/Covid_Aid_Fraud_FINAL.pdf\">found<\/a> that unemployment aid was robbed of $200 billion. The Labor Department\u2019s Office of Inspector General (DOLIG) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oig.dol.gov\/public\/testimony\/02082023.pdf\">estimated<\/a> that at least $191 billion could have been improper payments, with a \u2018significant portion\u2019 attributable to fraud. The DOL <a href=\"https:\/\/oui.doleta.gov\/unemploy\/pdf\/Pandemic_Unemployment_Assistance_Improper_Payment_Rate_Report.pdf\">estimated<\/a> that 35.9% of PUA payments were improper, translating to $47 billion of its $131 billion,\u201d the OTB report explained.<\/p>\n<p>Another major problem in tracking fraudulent expenditures in federal COVID relief efforts is the fact that so many tax dollars were spent through multiple state governments and programs, the OTB report said. There were also major flaws in how the Department of the Treasury documented pandemic relief spending.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) provided $350 billion in Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF), which still has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usaspending.gov\/disaster\/covid-19\">millions left<\/a> to divvy out. However, there is no single published estimate for total ARPA fraud specifically, and that gap is itself a documented oversight failure,\u201d the OTB report said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cARPA was an umbrella law that funded many different programs administered by different agencies. Unlike single-agency programs with dedicated OIG oversight, such as PPP under the SBA or unemployment insurance under the DOL, ARPA\u2019s $1.9 trillion flowed through dozens of programs across multiple agencies, meaning no watchdog has a unified fraud calculation,\u201d the report continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTake for example the Treasury Department. It established and modified its monitoring procedures, reviewing how SLFRF was spent, but it did not document those changes in key internal program guidance, creating a risk that the new procedures would not be implemented consistently,\u201d according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gao.gov\/assets\/gao-24-106027.pdf\">GAO<\/a>. Treasury also did not issue timely management decisions on SLFRF findings in recipients\u2019 single audit reports, meaning it did not have \u201creasonable assurance\u201d that unallowable uses of funds were identified or remediated, leaving the fraud door wide open.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Those problems were present at the Treasury Department during the Biden administration.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is still more COVID-19 fraud we have not mentioned: pandemic-related health care fraud (as Open the Books has documented in the <a href=\"https:\/\/openthebooks.substack.com\/p\/hidden-fees-federal-taxpayers-on\">Cost of Fraud<\/a> series), stimulus checks paid out to dead people, and tax credits. One New Jerseyan sought more than $170 million in fraudulent COVID-19-related tax refunds, resulting in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/opa\/pr\/action-across-country-today-prosecute-schemes-defraud-over-260-million-taxpayer-funded-covid\">the largest COVID-19 tax relief fraud case<\/a> to be tried in the country as of April this year,\u201d the OTB analysis disclosed.<\/p>\n<div><em>Mark Tapscott is senior congressional analyst at The Washington Stand.<\/em><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f7f7f7; color: #171717; display: flex;font-size: 16px;font-weight: 600;line-height: 1.5;margin: 24px 0;padding: 18px 20px 18px 30px;text-align: left;\">\n<div style=\"align-self: stretch;border-left: 3px solid #171717;flex-shrink: 0;padding-left: 20px;\"><\/div>\n<p><a style=\"text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/\">Choose The Western Journal as your preferred source on Google and never miss reporting that defends truth, protects freedom, and advances Western civilization<\/a><\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey == typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts = { \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs = [ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i = 0; i < inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! 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Serving nearly 15 years<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2635652,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_0618.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[40093,83215,40978,83216,83217],"class_list":["post-2635651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-covid-fraud","tag-federal-relief-funds","tag-financial-oversight","tag-government-recovery","tag-pandemic-fraud-recovery"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_0618.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2635651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2635651"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2635651\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2635655,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2635651\/revisions\/2635655"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2635652"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2635651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2635651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2635651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}