Tens Of Thousands Of Federal Employees Stole Taxpayer Money During The Pandemic
Tens of thousands of federal employees reportedly stole taxpayers’ money during the COVID-19 pandemic by filing fake pandemic loan requests, according to a report published Monday.
Republican Iowa Senator Joni Ernsts wants every single individual who took part in the theft fired, according to the Washington Times. “I hope this money can be recovered, and, to deter those who might ever think of trying to do this again in the future, those who abused the public trust will have their federal employment terminated,” Ernsts wrote in a letter to the inspector general leading the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee.
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The thefts were discovered by the committee’s Pandemic Analytics Center of Excellence (PACE), a data-heavy attempt to uncover fraud, and boy, did it! “So far, this analysis has helped six agency OIGs match tens of thousands of employees with SBA loans for which they were not eligible,” PACE said in a report to Congress in December, according to the Washington Times.
This is a serious issue, and its an issue that impacts Americans from a federal all the way down to a state level. In Georgia alone, some 280 full-time employees wrongly claimed unemployment benefits throughout the pandemic, stealing more than $6.7 million, or roughly $23,700 per person.
Accountability is key when it comes to this blatant theft by federal employees.
And these thefts were not small. According to the Washington Times, at least two different individuals walked away with more than $100,000 in fraudulent payments. While some of these people have been prosecuted, more needs to be done to hold them accountable.
If this is something you care about, sign up to Change.MillionVoices.org today or text “MV” to 80550. We’ll ensure your local representatives at all levels of government are aware that you want those who stole your money during the pandemic to be held accountable for their actions.
