The US Department of Justice (DoJ) has charged nearly 500 individuals for allegedly participating in coronavirus-related scams and fraudulent activities.
As of March 26, 474 individuals have been publicly charged with COVID-19 fraud schemes focused on siphoning over $569 million from government financial relief projects, including the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program and Unemployment Insurance (UI) programs.
According to a press release, the DoJ has indicted 120 individuals with PPP fraud. The defendants include business owners accused of inflating payroll expenses to secure large loans and members of organized crime rings who allegedly submitted exact copies of loan applications and documents under different company names.
