During the pandemic, the federal government distributed a massive $4.2 trillion to local governments, businesses and people. Some of those funds were stolen, and one estimate puts the amount in the hundreds of billions of dollars.
Now, the government is trying to reclaim at least some of those stolen funds and prosecute the thieves.
In August 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it had charged over 3,000 defendants across the country with offenses related to COVID-19 fraud and seized over $1.4 billion in relief funds.
In Wisconsin, federal prosecutors have charged nearly 40 people with crimes related to COVID-19 fraud.
The exact amount of stolen relief funds nationwide is unclear, but a 2023 analysis conducted by the Associated Press estimated nearly $300 billion was illegally obtained from COVID-19 relief funding.
Most, according to the Associated Press, came from temporary programs established by the Coronavirus, Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, also known as the CARES Act, a $2.2 trillion economic stimulus bill launched in 2020 during the Trump administration. Those programs were intended to aid small businesses and unemployed workers affected by the economic fallout of the pandemic.