Now that the House Oversight Committee is actually doing their job, thanks to a majority change, Chairman James Comer is digging into the “massive amounts of fraud” siphoning cash from COVID-19 relief programs. Billions are missing. It’s not even clear how many billions, but the latest guess from Department of Labor is that “waste, fraud and abuse cost the U.S. up to $163 billion throughout the pandemic.”
COVID fraud by the billions
On Wednesday, February 1, House Oversight Committee chairman James Comer held a hearing “to investigate COVID-19 fraud.” He hauled officials from the Department of Labor in to explain where it went and what’s being done about it.
“There has been massive amounts of fraud. We want to know if there’s a way to claw back any of this money,” Comer told reporters. The committee also wants to know “if there’s a way to hold people accountable for wrongdoing, and what steps these different government agencies have done to prevent this in the future.”
Comer had some harsh words for Democrats “who are refusing to move forward with officially declaring an end to the pandemic.” There were enough who crossed the aisle that the COVID state of emergency is now a thing of the past. That was only an added bonus.
Today’s @GOPoversight hearing is a first step in examining the massive waste, fraud, and abuse in COVID-relief programs.
Up to $400 billion in unemployment insurance benefits were paid out improperly and that's just the tip of the iceberg.
Taxpayers deserve better. @SquawkCNBC pic.twitter.com/wDnKozG9jX
— Rep. James Comer (@RepJamesComer) February 1, 2023
The oversight committee concentrated on the overwhelming evidence of theft in the aid programs. He’s convinced the testimony will “infuriate every American” enough to wonder “Where has Congress been for the last two years?” Nobody questioned any of the rampant funding abuse.
Earlier this week, the Government Accountability Office discovered that the Labor Department “spent $45 billion on fraudulent claims for unemployment insurance” during the COVID pandemic. So far, the report notes, they haven’t done a thing to correct it.
“Without an antifraud strategy, DOL is not able to ensure that it is addressing the most significant fraud risks facing the UI system in alignment with the Fraud Risk Framework.” That means that they’re breaking their own rules.
It’s a lot more than that
Over at the DOL they’re laughing that the GAO only caught $45 billion. Their own inspector general “found that the department had lost $163 billion during the pandemic.” They’re quick to point out that wasn’t all fraud. There were “other losses.”
Network outlets don’t want you to know that the IG found that “nearly half of pandemic unemployment benefits may have been improperly paid.” COVID was a great way for lazy people to cash in.
Over at the Ways and Means committee, Leader Kevin Brady and his colleague Brad Wenstrup are furious over unemployment abuse.
I will get the backs of America's taxpayers.
That is why on February 1, @GOPoversight will hold our first hearing titled “Federal Pandemic Spending: A Prescription for Waste, Fraud, and Abuse,” to focus on the rampant waste of taxpayer $$$ in COVID relief programs. @BloombergTV pic.twitter.com/WZWhsrhyrK
— Rep. James Comer (@RepJamesComer) January 28, 2023
“Fraud estimates range from $80 billion to as much as $400 billion, which is nearly half of all the COVID-19 unemployment aid.”
One Miami woman, for example, appeared in federal court Thursday, “facing 10 charges.” Prosecutors charged her with “financing a ‘lavish lifestyle‘ with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of fraudulently-obtained COVID-19 relief loans.”
It got her “a luxury Biscayne Bay apartment” Along with “a 2021 Bentley Bentayga.” She was also able to “pay for cosmetic dermatology procedures and refinish her designer shoes.” It was so easy, everyone was doing it. She simply “enrolled with a payroll processor to issue fraudulent payroll checks to herself, family members and friends.“