On March 2, 2023, the White House announced that President Biden intends to ask Congress for $1.6 Billion to combat ongoing fraud related to COVID relief programs, referred to as “pandemic fraud.” This comes in the wake of “historic” levels of fraud that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, the full extent of which is still not fully known. In the White House’s announcement, it notes that the requested $1.6 Billion will be for President Biden’s three-part Pandemic Anti-Fraud proposal. These three parts aim at prosecuting those who committed pandemic fraud, investing in fraud prevention, and investing in procedures to protect individuals from identity theft. Thus, it is becoming evident that the federal government is beginning to seriously crackdown on pandemic fraud. Below, PilieroMazza summarizes how these developments can impact small business government contractors.
Pandemic Anti-Fraud Proposal
A critical aspect of President Biden’s proposal is a $600 Million investment to ensure the federal government has the resources to investigate and prosecute those engaged in systemic or major pandemic fraud. Indeed, the Biden Administration envisions using this money to add ten additional Department of Justice (DOJ) COVID-19 Strike Force Teams who work with other federal agencies to investigate and prosecute pandemic fraud. Also, after increasing the statute of limitations to prosecute fraud under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL)...
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