Month: October 2022

SAVANNAH, GA:  Eight more people have been charged in federal court with participating in COVID-19 relief fraud schemes, with two of them pleading guilty.

Each defendant is charged via an Information as the result of ongoing investigations into misuse of the U.S. government’s COVID-19 financial relief programs, said David H. Estes, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. The charges carry statutory penalties up to 20 years in prison, along with substantial amounts of restitution and financial penalties, followed by a period of supervised release.

There is no parole in the federal system.

“Millions of distressed businesses found much-needed financial assistance during the pandemic through the U.S. government’s COVID-19 relief programs,” said U.S. Attorney Estes. “It’s disappointing that others abused these programs not for saving a valid business, but for lining their own pockets.”

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was passed into law in March

What GAO Found

The Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program was created to financially assist businesses in the performing arts and entertainment industries hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Small Business Administration (SBA) approved 73 percent of the 17,328 applications it received for the program as of December 31, 2021. Smaller businesses (those with 50 or fewer employees) represented over 90 percent of award recipients. Of the six types of eligible businesses, movie theaters had the highest median award amount (see figure).

Shuttered Venue Operators Grant Recipients and Median Awards, by Eligible Business Type, as of December 31, 2021

Most applicants viewed SBA’s Shuttered Venue program communications negatively, according to a GAO survey. The agency changed program guidance frequently and the survey estimates that 85 percent of applicants found these changes to be challenging. Customer service was hard to access and did not provide applicant-specific assistance, most survey respondents reported.