The Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced today an update on its civil and criminal enforcement efforts to combat COVID-19 related fraud, which have focused on identifying schemes that target the Paycheck Protection Program, the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, and Unemployment Insurance programs.  DOJ reported that it has publicly charged 474 defendants with criminal offenses based on fraud schemes connected to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Taken together, these schemes involved “attempts to obtain over $569 million from the U.S. government and unsuspecting individuals through fraud.”

In its update, DOJ also noted that it is using numerous civil tools to address fraud in connection with COVID-19 relief funds, including the False Claims Act (“FCA”).  DOJ explained that the “FCA is the government’s primary civil tool to redress false claims for federal funds and property involving a multitude of government operations and functions,” and that whistleblower complaints under the FCA “have been on the rise as unscrupulous actors take advantage of vulnerabilities created by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Read the DOJ update here.

Click here to learn more about G&G’s private economic crime unit dedicated to combatting COVID-19 related fraud.