Friday, May 21, 2021
On May 17, 2021, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced a new, inter-agency task force led by Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco to address fraud related to the COVID-19 pandemic (COVID-19 Task Force). According to DOJ’s memorandum, the Justice Department and the other enforcement agencies will be devoting significant resources to the investigation and prosecution of fraudulent schemes arising from pandemic-related relief efforts. Likely areas of focus include Provider Relief Fund (PRF) payments, alleged double-dipping from multiple funding sources, Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, and unemployment insurance. Additionally, through the COVID-19 Task Force, DOJ is going to enhance its dissemination of public information to inform the public on its activities and entice whistleblowers to come forward.
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On May 17, 2021, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced a new, inter-agency task force led by Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco to address fraud related to the COVID-19 pandemic (COVID-19 Task Force). According to DOJ’s memorandum, the Justice Department and the other enforcement agencies will be devoting significant resources to the investigation and prosecution of fraudulent schemes arising from pandemic-related relief efforts. Likely areas of focus include Provider Relief Fund (PRF) payments, alleged double dipping from multiple funding sources, Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, and unemployment insurance. Additionally, through the COVID-19 Task Force, DOJ is going to enhance its dissemination of public information to inform the public on its activities and entice whistleblowers to come forward.
Oversight leader says volume of datasets ‘biggest challenge’ in COVID-19 fraud prevention tech (Getty Images) May 19, 2021 | FEDSCOOP
Processing the high volume of datasets held by federal government departments is the “biggest challenge” in COVID-19 fraud prevention, according to a top oversight official.
Speaking Tuesday, Robert Westbrooks said the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) is working quickly to triage and process first the most significant datasets.
“We’re going dataset by dataset by dataset, acquiring them and ingesting them into our system, and trying to make sense of it and put them in context with other datasets.
“The biggest challenge is the volume, quite frankly. You have to prioritize, you can’t do it all immediately, so have to pick and choose: What are your priorities today, to have the biggest impact on the criminal side, and also more importantly for all of u
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WASHINGTON Lawmakers have unleashed more than $5 trillion in relief aid over the past year to help businesses and individuals through the pandemic downturn. But the scale of that effort is placing serious strain on a patchwork oversight network created to ferret out waste and fraud.
The Biden administration has taken steps to improve accountability and oversight safeguards spurned by the Trump administration, including more detailed and frequent reporting requirements for those receiving funds. But policing the money has been complicated by long-running turf battles; the lack of a centralized, fully functional system to track how funds are being spent; and the speed with which the government has tried to disburse aid.