The United States Attorney’s Office, the Office of the Rhode Island Attorney General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Rhode Island State Police today publicly updated information on criminal investigations and prosecutions of individuals who are alleged to have targeted and defrauded federally funded programs created to assist businesses and individuals impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, including the Paycheck Protection Program and Unemployment Insurance Program.
Since the enactment of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act in March 2020, a team of federal and state law enforcement personnel led by the Rhode Island State Police and the FBI, along with federal and state prosecutors, have worked together to identify, investigate, charge, and prosecute individuals who knowingly defrauded or attempted to defraud federally funded programs that provide emergency COVID-19 financial assistance to Rhode Islanders and others.
Friday, April 09, 2021
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The United States Attorney’s Office, the Office of the Rhode Island Attorney General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Rhode Island State Police have updated information on criminal investigations and prosecutions of individuals who are alleged to have targeted and defrauded federally funded programs created to assist businesses and individuals impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, including the Paycheck Protection Program and Unemployment Insurance Program.
To date, federal charges have been brought against 23 individuals, including 15 this week, for fraudulently applying for aid from CARES Act funded programs. Investigators have identified more than $31 million dollars allegedly targeted by these fraudsters.
Reply We are all aware that there are individuals who have taken advantage of the pandemic to advance their own financial interests, Attorney General Peter Neronha said. (Shutterstock)
PROVIDENCE, RI Twenty-three people are facing federal charges in Rhode Island in connection with fraud related to coronavirus relief funds, the state s U.S. Attorney s Office announced Thursday. Charges were brought against 15 people just this week.
Since the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act was passed in March 2020, Rhode Island State Police and the FBI, in conjunction with local police departments, have led investigations into those who knowingly defrauded or attempted to defraud the programs that offered emergency assistance during the pandemic. This included the Paycheck Protection Program and the Unemployment Insurance Program.
The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment has been flooded with fraudulent claims for unemployment insurance â more than 1.1 million claims have been flagged as possibly fraudulent since the start of 2020.Â
Bank employees and customers, like those in other industries, have been targeted by scammers who have used their identities to file false claims.Â
While many of these claims are now being caught by more sophisticated identification tools, many others result in great inconvenience for businesses and individuals and in millions of dollars in payments to scammers.Â
According to Jessica Smith, CDLE Division of Unemployment Insurance press secretary, scammers were successful in stealing $6,562,264 through fraudulent claims in 2020, but the department prevented more than $91 million in fraud losses.
Thursday, February 25, 2021
Long-term care providers and other businesses and entities in Wisconsin now have broad, but not unlimited, immunity from liability related to COVID-19 exposure, under a bill signed into law by Gov. Tony Evers [today/February 25]. The immunity provision is included in a bill addressing the state’s unemployment insurance program, which received final legislative approval on February 23.[1]
The new law provides immunity from civil liability for death, injury or other damages due to any act or failure to act resulting in, or related to, a person’s exposure to COVID-19. Such action or failure to act must be in the performance of the entity’s functions or services.