‘Demands Immediate Attention’: Officials Warn Nearly $1B in Unused COVID-Era Benefits at ‘Risk’ of Fraud

An official government watchdog has located nearly $1 billion in COVID-era unemployment benefits that are in danger of falling into the hands of fraudsters.

The U.S. Labor Department’s (DOL) Office of Inspector General (OIG) said the issue involves unemployment insurance benefits on prepaid debit cards and state unclaimed property offices, the New York Post reported Monday.

The OIG’s announcement said Inspector General Anthony P. D’Esposito is warning that unless officials take action, American taxpayers could lose $912 million.

“After analyzing 6.5 million prepaid debit cards used to distribute COVID-era unemployment insurance benefits, investigators found $720 million still loaded on unused cards, including one account holding more than $76,000 — and another $192 million already transferred to state unclaimed property offices,” the OIG’s statement read.

There have been numerous instances of fraud related to the Chinese coronavirus pandemic.

In August, officials said $520 million in “suspected fraudulent” pandemic-era unemployment insurance payments were returned to Maryland, Breitbart News reported:

DOL Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer announced this news on Thursday, sharing that the recovery was the result of a coordinated effort between her department’s Office of Inspector General, the Employment and Training Administration, and Maryland’s Labor Department.

The CARES Act of 2020 was a major target for fraudsters during the COVID-19 era as domestic and international criminals perpetrated “a multitude of identity fraud schemes to apply for and receive unemployment insurance benefit,” the agency said in a statement obtained by Breitbart News.

More recently, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) suspended over 111,000 California borrowers and will try to claw back over $8 billion in suspected fraudulent aid connected to the pandemic, the outlet reported February 7.

In his statement, D’Esposito said, “My office has warned that, absent swift action, U.S. taxpayers risk losing nearly a billion dollars in fraudulently obtained benefits. This is taxpayer money — and it demands immediate attention. We’ve done the investigative work. We’ve identified where the money is. There is no excuse for delay, and no acceptable outcome other than returning these dollars to the American people.”

In a social media post on Sunday, D’Esposito explained that “fraud is a tax on every American.”