Minnesota tops list of 10 most expensive pandemic aid fraud schemes
Story by John Kelly • 2h
Minnesota lawmaker probing fraud scheme says "we are just at the tip of the iceberg"
Federal prosecutors have repeatedly called the fraud case that plundered Minnesota's child nutrition program the "largest pandemic fraud in the United States." But it's far from the only multimillion-dollar scheme to cheat the U.S. government out of taxpayers money that Congress intended to help the country through the economic disaster that accompanied the COVID-19 crisis.
A CBS News analysis of government data and records determined the Minnesota fraudsters appear to have made off with more taxpayer money than any other individual scheme. Dozens of people in that state have been charged, and more than 50 have been convicted or pleaded guilty.
But the review of court files, government audits and investigative documents identified at least 20 other cases that each cost taxpayers at least $1 million. At least nine known cases cost more than $10 million apiece.
Outside the Minnesota case, the next most costly fraud cases were highlighted by a related pair of Paycheck Protection Program loan scams run out of Arizona that defrauded the federal government of $109 million and $63 million. The program, known as PPP, was intended to provide businesses forgivable loans to keep workers on their payrolls while they were shut down or operating at a loss because of public-health restrictions.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/minnesota-tops-list-of-10-most-expensive-pandemic-aid-fraud-schemes/ar-AA1SaHoK?ocid=msedgntp&pc=HCTS&cvid=693b258b6265405cac64547aded72666&ei=59
