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| Government Corruption |
| Biden-Era Small Business Admin Exposed in Lax Pursuit of COVID Fraud |
| 2025-03-26 |
| [Breitbart] Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) said a Government Accountability Institute (GAO) report found lax oversight by the SBA over hundreds of billions of dollars in coronavirus aid loans and grants doled out during the Biden-administration was either “jaw-dropping incompetence or willful negligence.” Ernst cannot decide which is worse. The GAO, a nonpartisan watchdog, released a study on the SBA’s four-step antifraud process as the SBA distributed over $1 trillion in loans and grants to over ten million small businesses during the 2020-2022 coronavirus pandemic. The four-step process consisted of screening, data analytics, human-led reviews, and referrals of likely fraudulent applications to the SBA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG). Even though the process and various steps were introduced at different times for the COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (COVID-19 EIDL) and the Paycheck Protection Plan (PPP), the “SBA did not implement the process until more than half of the programs’ funding had been approved, thus limiting its impact in preventing fraud,” the GAO wrote. “Specifically, for COVID-EIDL, over $210 billion of an eventual $385 billion (or about 55 percent) had already been disbursed before the full process was implemented. For the PPP, over $525 billion of an eventual $800 billion (or about 66 percent) had already been approved,” the watchdog group continued. The GAO recommended that SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler “should collaborate with the SBA’s OIG to develop an effective plan, including the data elements to be provided and the process to be used, for referrals of potential or likely COVID-19 EIDL fraud cases.” Caitlin O’Dea, a spokesperson for Administrator Loeffler, told Breitbart News that the SBA is working around the clock to hold those who committed fraud accountable. She said in a statement: The SBA fully supports all efforts to crack down on fraud within its loan programs – in stark contrast to the last Administration, which failed to investigate or address more than $200B in estimated pandemic-era fraud. Under Administrator Loeffler, the SBA has already taken action to enhance fraud prevention and will continue working to hold pandemic-era fraudsters accountable in partnership with law enforcement. The SBA will not be alone in these efforts. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), the chair of the Senate Small Business Committee and the chair of the Senate Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Caucus, said that she remains committed to working with the SBA to find the coronavirus pandemic-era fraud, recouping the funds, and holding the criminals accountable. “The Biden SBA was completely asleep at the wheel pursuing fraud in pandemic relief programs,” Ernst said in a statement to Breitbart News. The agency’s shortcomings prevented millions of investigations from occurring and allowed potential criminals to get away. This report exposes either jaw-dropping incompetence or willful negligence by the bureaucrats overseeing these programs.” DOGE recently revealed that $312 million in coronavirus aid fraud went to children under 11 years-old; Ernst said that this fraud was just the “tip of the iceberg.” Ernst’s office has catalogued many of the ways that coronavirus aid has been abused: While SBA ran the relief programs on a “first come, first serve” basis, the money ran out quickly, and many qualifying businesses were turned away as felons, gang members, and drug traffickers raked in cash. Some swindlers uploaded pictures of Barbie dolls as photo identification on SBA loan applications that were approved. An 2023 Ernst and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) investigation found that there was $5.4 billion in total loans to fraudulent Social Security numbers. Related: Joni Ernst 03/13/2025 'Lost in the Mail!': Joni Ernst Shreds Biden's $3 Billion USPS EV Boondoggle — Just 93 of 50,000 Vehicles Delivered Joni Ernst 02/28/2025 Ex-USAID Official: Cash Went to Terrorists After Biden Dumped Strict Vetting Procedures Joni Ernst 02/27/2025 'Billion Dollar Boondoggle Act of 2025' Related: Government Accountability Institute: 2024-11-19 Obama-Biden-Clinton nuclear giveaway to Russia a decade ago comes back to bite America Government Accountability Institute: 2024-03-03 Peter Schweizer: Fentanyl a ‘Chinese Operation Much More than It Is a Mexican Drug Cartel Operation' Government Accountability Institute: 2024-02-26 Schweizer-‘Blood Money': The Secret Chinese Military ‘Disintegration Warfare' Manifesto to Rip America Apart Using Drugs, Social Chaos, and More Related: Small Business Admin: 2025-03-25 Washington AG joins coalition suing to block Trump's order to dismantle Department of Education Small Business Admin: 2025-03-25 Pam Bondi threatens prosecution amid DOGE's findings about fraud: 'We're coming after you' Small Business Admin: 2025-03-23 Trump admin to cut Small Business Admin staff by 43% |
| Posted by:Skidmark |
| #1 Trump administration says it will pull back billions in COVID funding from local health departments |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2025-03-26 09:22 |