根據(jù)一家聯(lián)邦監(jiān)管機(jī)構(gòu)的最新估計(jì),兩項(xiàng)大型疫情救助計(jì)劃中可能被竊取的金額超過(guò)2,000億美元。該機(jī)構(gòu)正在調(diào)查聯(lián)邦資助計(jì)劃,這些計(jì)劃幫助小企業(yè)度過(guò)了一百多年來(lái)最嚴(yán)重的公共衛(wèi)生危機(jī)。
美國(guó)小企業(yè)管理局(U.S. Small Business Administration)的監(jiān)察長(zhǎng)在6月27日發(fā)布的數(shù)據(jù)遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)高于該辦公室之前的預(yù)測(cè),并強(qiáng)調(diào)薪酬保護(hù)計(jì)劃(Paycheck Protection Program)和新冠經(jīng)濟(jì)傷害災(zāi)難貸款計(jì)劃(COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program)讓詐騙者有機(jī)可乘,尤其是在新冠疫情爆發(fā)的早期階段。
監(jiān)察長(zhǎng)的報(bào)告稱:“至少17%的新冠經(jīng)濟(jì)傷害災(zāi)難貸款計(jì)劃和薪酬保護(hù)計(jì)劃的資金被支付給了潛在的詐騙者?!眻?bào)告預(yù)計(jì),新冠經(jīng)濟(jì)傷害災(zāi)難貸款計(jì)劃的欺詐金額估計(jì)超過(guò)1,360億美元,占該計(jì)劃總支出的33%。監(jiān)察長(zhǎng)說(shuō),薪酬保護(hù)計(jì)劃的欺詐金額估計(jì)為640億美元。
在報(bào)告所附的評(píng)論中,美國(guó)小企業(yè)管理局的一位高級(jí)官員對(duì)這些新數(shù)字提出了質(zhì)疑。美國(guó)小企業(yè)管理局負(fù)責(zé)救濟(jì)金領(lǐng)取的代理副署長(zhǎng)貝利·德弗里斯表示,監(jiān)察長(zhǎng)的“計(jì)算方法存在嚴(yán)重缺陷,大大高估了欺詐情況,并無(wú)意中誤導(dǎo)公眾認(rèn)為,在防范欺詐方面,我們共同開展的工作沒(méi)有發(fā)揮重要作用?!?/p>
美國(guó)小企業(yè)管理局監(jiān)察長(zhǎng)此前估計(jì),新冠經(jīng)濟(jì)傷害災(zāi)難貸款計(jì)劃的欺詐金額為860億美元,薪酬保護(hù)計(jì)劃的欺詐金額為200億美元。
美聯(lián)社(The Associated Press)6月13日的報(bào)道指出,詐騙者可能竊取了約2,800億美元的新冠緊急救濟(jì)金;另有1,230億美元被浪費(fèi)或誤用。大部分潛在損失來(lái)自美國(guó)小企業(yè)管理局管理的兩項(xiàng)計(jì)劃,以及另一項(xiàng)為因新冠疫情造成的經(jīng)濟(jì)動(dòng)蕩而突然失業(yè)的員工提供失業(yè)救濟(jì)金的計(jì)劃。美國(guó)前總統(tǒng)唐納德·特朗普政府發(fā)起了這三項(xiàng)大型疫情救助計(jì)劃,而喬·拜登就任美國(guó)總統(tǒng)后,也沒(méi)有改弦更張。美聯(lián)社估計(jì)損失加起來(lái)占美國(guó)政府迄今為止支付的4.2萬(wàn)億美元新冠救濟(jì)金的10%。
美國(guó)小企業(yè)管理局的監(jiān)察長(zhǎng)漢尼拔·“邁克”·韋爾在6月27日的一份聲明中說(shuō),這份報(bào)告“利用調(diào)查案例、之前的(監(jiān)察長(zhǎng))報(bào)告和領(lǐng)先的數(shù)據(jù)分析技術(shù)來(lái)確定多項(xiàng)欺詐計(jì)劃,這些計(jì)劃利用了旨在幫助有需要的人的救濟(jì)項(xiàng)目,從美國(guó)納稅人那里竊取超過(guò)2,000億美元?!?/p>
韋爾在今年6月早些時(shí)候接受美聯(lián)社采訪時(shí)說(shuō),這些最新的欺詐數(shù)據(jù)不會(huì)是他的辦公室發(fā)布的最后數(shù)據(jù)。
“我們將繼續(xù)評(píng)估欺詐行為,直到我們完成對(duì)欺詐行為的調(diào)查?!表f爾說(shuō)。這可能是一個(gè)漫長(zhǎng)的過(guò)程。韋爾的辦公室積壓了9萬(wàn)多份具有較大可查性的、關(guān)于新冠救濟(jì)金欺詐行為的線索,這相當(dāng)于近一個(gè)世紀(jì)的工作量。
美國(guó)小企業(yè)管理局此前告訴美聯(lián)社,聯(lián)邦政府尚未制定出一套公認(rèn)的系統(tǒng)來(lái)評(píng)估聯(lián)邦項(xiàng)目中的欺詐行為。該機(jī)構(gòu)稱,之前的分析指出了“潛在欺詐”或“欺詐指標(biāo)”,并讓公眾認(rèn)為這些數(shù)字是真實(shí)的欺詐估計(jì),而實(shí)際情況并非如此。對(duì)于新冠經(jīng)濟(jì)傷害災(zāi)難貸款計(jì)劃,該機(jī)構(gòu)表示,其“初步估計(jì)”發(fā)現(xiàn)欺詐金額可能高達(dá)280億美元。
美國(guó)小企業(yè)管理局的發(fā)言人韓阮(音譯)于6月27日在一份聲明中說(shuō):“必須澄清的是,新冠經(jīng)濟(jì)傷害災(zāi)難貸款計(jì)劃和薪酬保護(hù)計(jì)劃中,86%的欺詐行為可能發(fā)生在這些計(jì)劃的前9個(gè)月。正如(監(jiān)察長(zhǎng))經(jīng)常指出的那樣,當(dāng)時(shí)急于將資金發(fā)放出去導(dǎo)致了不明智的決定,即突破反詐圍欄限制?!?/p>
根據(jù)美國(guó)勞工部(Labor Department)的監(jiān)察長(zhǎng)拉里·特納的國(guó)會(huì)證詞,根據(jù)保守估計(jì),疫情失業(yè)援助計(jì)劃的欺詐金額高達(dá)760億美元。根據(jù)他的證詞,另有1,150億美元被誤用,支付給了那些本不應(yīng)得到救濟(jì)的人。
拜登政府制定了更嚴(yán)格的規(guī)則來(lái)遏制新冠救濟(jì)金相關(guān)欺詐行為,包括使用“不付款”數(shù)據(jù)庫(kù)(可以使用該數(shù)據(jù)庫(kù)同時(shí)檢查多個(gè)數(shù)據(jù)源,以驗(yàn)證收款方是否有資格獲得付款)。拜登政府最近還提出了一項(xiàng)16億美元的計(jì)劃,以加強(qiáng)執(zhí)法力度,打擊新冠救濟(jì)金詐騙者。
美國(guó)救援計(jì)劃(American Rescue Plan)的協(xié)調(diào)員吉恩·斯珀林在6月初的一次采訪中表示:“我認(rèn)為,不管(欺詐總金額)是多少,大部分被騙資金來(lái)自于2020年設(shè)計(jì)和啟動(dòng)的三項(xiàng)計(jì)劃,這些計(jì)劃有太多嚴(yán)重漏洞,為詐騙者打開了大門。”
美國(guó)聯(lián)邦流行病應(yīng)對(duì)問(wèn)責(zé)委員會(huì)(Pandemic Response Accountability Committee)的前執(zhí)行主任鮑勃·韋斯特布魯克斯在接受采訪時(shí)表示,2,000億美元這一數(shù)字“前所未有,不可理解,也無(wú)法接受”。韋斯特布魯克斯在上周出版了一本書,名為《獨(dú)自承擔(dān)責(zé)任:監(jiān)督機(jī)構(gòu)關(guān)于美國(guó)政府如何在新冠考驗(yàn)中弄巧成拙的報(bào)告》(Left Holding the Bag: A Watchdog’s Account of How Washington Fumbled its COVID Test)。
韋斯特布魯克斯在6月27日表示:“資金的迅速分配和計(jì)劃的完整性并不相互排斥。政府能夠雙管齊下。他們本應(yīng)把基本的欺詐防范措施落實(shí)到位,以核實(shí)申領(lǐng)者的身份,并確保實(shí)現(xiàn)精準(zhǔn)救濟(jì),讓真正有需要的人得到幫助?!保ㄘ?cái)富中文網(wǎng))
詹妮弗·麥克德莫特(Jennifer McDermott)在美國(guó)羅德島州普羅維登斯報(bào)道。
譯者:中慧言-王芳
根據(jù)一家聯(lián)邦監(jiān)管機(jī)構(gòu)的最新估計(jì),兩項(xiàng)大型疫情救助計(jì)劃中可能被竊取的金額超過(guò)2,000億美元。該機(jī)構(gòu)正在調(diào)查聯(lián)邦資助計(jì)劃,這些計(jì)劃幫助小企業(yè)度過(guò)了一百多年來(lái)最嚴(yán)重的公共衛(wèi)生危機(jī)。
美國(guó)小企業(yè)管理局(U.S. Small Business Administration)的監(jiān)察長(zhǎng)在6月27日發(fā)布的數(shù)據(jù)遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)高于該辦公室之前的預(yù)測(cè),并強(qiáng)調(diào)薪酬保護(hù)計(jì)劃(Paycheck Protection Program)和新冠經(jīng)濟(jì)傷害災(zāi)難貸款計(jì)劃(COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program)讓詐騙者有機(jī)可乘,尤其是在新冠疫情爆發(fā)的早期階段。
監(jiān)察長(zhǎng)的報(bào)告稱:“至少17%的新冠經(jīng)濟(jì)傷害災(zāi)難貸款計(jì)劃和薪酬保護(hù)計(jì)劃的資金被支付給了潛在的詐騙者?!眻?bào)告預(yù)計(jì),新冠經(jīng)濟(jì)傷害災(zāi)難貸款計(jì)劃的欺詐金額估計(jì)超過(guò)1,360億美元,占該計(jì)劃總支出的33%。監(jiān)察長(zhǎng)說(shuō),薪酬保護(hù)計(jì)劃的欺詐金額估計(jì)為640億美元。
在報(bào)告所附的評(píng)論中,美國(guó)小企業(yè)管理局的一位高級(jí)官員對(duì)這些新數(shù)字提出了質(zhì)疑。美國(guó)小企業(yè)管理局負(fù)責(zé)救濟(jì)金領(lǐng)取的代理副署長(zhǎng)貝利·德弗里斯表示,監(jiān)察長(zhǎng)的“計(jì)算方法存在嚴(yán)重缺陷,大大高估了欺詐情況,并無(wú)意中誤導(dǎo)公眾認(rèn)為,在防范欺詐方面,我們共同開展的工作沒(méi)有發(fā)揮重要作用?!?/p>
美國(guó)小企業(yè)管理局監(jiān)察長(zhǎng)此前估計(jì),新冠經(jīng)濟(jì)傷害災(zāi)難貸款計(jì)劃的欺詐金額為860億美元,薪酬保護(hù)計(jì)劃的欺詐金額為200億美元。
美聯(lián)社(The Associated Press)6月13日的報(bào)道指出,詐騙者可能竊取了約2,800億美元的新冠緊急救濟(jì)金;另有1,230億美元被浪費(fèi)或誤用。大部分潛在損失來(lái)自美國(guó)小企業(yè)管理局管理的兩項(xiàng)計(jì)劃,以及另一項(xiàng)為因新冠疫情造成的經(jīng)濟(jì)動(dòng)蕩而突然失業(yè)的員工提供失業(yè)救濟(jì)金的計(jì)劃。美國(guó)前總統(tǒng)唐納德·特朗普政府發(fā)起了這三項(xiàng)大型疫情救助計(jì)劃,而喬·拜登就任美國(guó)總統(tǒng)后,也沒(méi)有改弦更張。美聯(lián)社估計(jì)損失加起來(lái)占美國(guó)政府迄今為止支付的4.2萬(wàn)億美元新冠救濟(jì)金的10%。
美國(guó)小企業(yè)管理局的監(jiān)察長(zhǎng)漢尼拔·“邁克”·韋爾在6月27日的一份聲明中說(shuō),這份報(bào)告“利用調(diào)查案例、之前的(監(jiān)察長(zhǎng))報(bào)告和領(lǐng)先的數(shù)據(jù)分析技術(shù)來(lái)確定多項(xiàng)欺詐計(jì)劃,這些計(jì)劃利用了旨在幫助有需要的人的救濟(jì)項(xiàng)目,從美國(guó)納稅人那里竊取超過(guò)2,000億美元。”
韋爾在今年6月早些時(shí)候接受美聯(lián)社采訪時(shí)說(shuō),這些最新的欺詐數(shù)據(jù)不會(huì)是他的辦公室發(fā)布的最后數(shù)據(jù)。
“我們將繼續(xù)評(píng)估欺詐行為,直到我們完成對(duì)欺詐行為的調(diào)查?!表f爾說(shuō)。這可能是一個(gè)漫長(zhǎng)的過(guò)程。韋爾的辦公室積壓了9萬(wàn)多份具有較大可查性的、關(guān)于新冠救濟(jì)金欺詐行為的線索,這相當(dāng)于近一個(gè)世紀(jì)的工作量。
美國(guó)小企業(yè)管理局此前告訴美聯(lián)社,聯(lián)邦政府尚未制定出一套公認(rèn)的系統(tǒng)來(lái)評(píng)估聯(lián)邦項(xiàng)目中的欺詐行為。該機(jī)構(gòu)稱,之前的分析指出了“潛在欺詐”或“欺詐指標(biāo)”,并讓公眾認(rèn)為這些數(shù)字是真實(shí)的欺詐估計(jì),而實(shí)際情況并非如此。對(duì)于新冠經(jīng)濟(jì)傷害災(zāi)難貸款計(jì)劃,該機(jī)構(gòu)表示,其“初步估計(jì)”發(fā)現(xiàn)欺詐金額可能高達(dá)280億美元。
美國(guó)小企業(yè)管理局的發(fā)言人韓阮(音譯)于6月27日在一份聲明中說(shuō):“必須澄清的是,新冠經(jīng)濟(jì)傷害災(zāi)難貸款計(jì)劃和薪酬保護(hù)計(jì)劃中,86%的欺詐行為可能發(fā)生在這些計(jì)劃的前9個(gè)月。正如(監(jiān)察長(zhǎng))經(jīng)常指出的那樣,當(dāng)時(shí)急于將資金發(fā)放出去導(dǎo)致了不明智的決定,即突破反詐圍欄限制。”
根據(jù)美國(guó)勞工部(Labor Department)的監(jiān)察長(zhǎng)拉里·特納的國(guó)會(huì)證詞,根據(jù)保守估計(jì),疫情失業(yè)援助計(jì)劃的欺詐金額高達(dá)760億美元。根據(jù)他的證詞,另有1,150億美元被誤用,支付給了那些本不應(yīng)得到救濟(jì)的人。
拜登政府制定了更嚴(yán)格的規(guī)則來(lái)遏制新冠救濟(jì)金相關(guān)欺詐行為,包括使用“不付款”數(shù)據(jù)庫(kù)(可以使用該數(shù)據(jù)庫(kù)同時(shí)檢查多個(gè)數(shù)據(jù)源,以驗(yàn)證收款方是否有資格獲得付款)。拜登政府最近還提出了一項(xiàng)16億美元的計(jì)劃,以加強(qiáng)執(zhí)法力度,打擊新冠救濟(jì)金詐騙者。
美國(guó)救援計(jì)劃(American Rescue Plan)的協(xié)調(diào)員吉恩·斯珀林在6月初的一次采訪中表示:“我認(rèn)為,不管(欺詐總金額)是多少,大部分被騙資金來(lái)自于2020年設(shè)計(jì)和啟動(dòng)的三項(xiàng)計(jì)劃,這些計(jì)劃有太多嚴(yán)重漏洞,為詐騙者打開了大門?!?/p>
美國(guó)聯(lián)邦流行病應(yīng)對(duì)問(wèn)責(zé)委員會(huì)(Pandemic Response Accountability Committee)的前執(zhí)行主任鮑勃·韋斯特布魯克斯在接受采訪時(shí)表示,2,000億美元這一數(shù)字“前所未有,不可理解,也無(wú)法接受”。韋斯特布魯克斯在上周出版了一本書,名為《獨(dú)自承擔(dān)責(zé)任:監(jiān)督機(jī)構(gòu)關(guān)于美國(guó)政府如何在新冠考驗(yàn)中弄巧成拙的報(bào)告》(Left Holding the Bag: A Watchdog’s Account of How Washington Fumbled its COVID Test)。
韋斯特布魯克斯在6月27日表示:“資金的迅速分配和計(jì)劃的完整性并不相互排斥。政府能夠雙管齊下。他們本應(yīng)把基本的欺詐防范措施落實(shí)到位,以核實(shí)申領(lǐng)者的身份,并確保實(shí)現(xiàn)精準(zhǔn)救濟(jì),讓真正有需要的人得到幫助?!保ㄘ?cái)富中文網(wǎng))
詹妮弗·麥克德莫特(Jennifer McDermott)在美國(guó)羅德島州普羅維登斯報(bào)道。
譯者:中慧言-王芳
More than $200 billion may have been stolen from two large COVID-19 relief initiatives, according to new estimates from a federal watchdog investigating federally funded programs that helped small businesses survive the worst public health crisis in more than a hundred years.
The numbers issued on June 27 by the U.S. Small Business Administration inspector general are much greater than the office’s previous projections and underscore how vulnerable the Paycheck Protection and COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan programs were to fraudsters, particularly during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic.
The inspector general’s report said “at least 17 percent of all COVID-EIDL and PPP funds were disbursed to potentially fraudulent actors.” The fraud estimate for the COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan program is more than $136 billion, which represents 33 percent of the total money spent on that program, according to the report. The Paycheck Protection fraud estimate is $64 billion, the inspector general said.
In comments attached to the report, a senior SBA official disputed the new numbers. Bailey DeVries, SBA’s acting associate administrator for capital access, said the inspector general’s “approach contains serious flaws that significantly overestimate fraud and unintentionally mislead the public to believe that the work we did together had no significant impact in protecting against fraud.”
The SBA inspector general had previously estimated fraud in the COVID-19 disaster loan program at $86 billion and the Paycheck Protection program at $20 billion.
The Associated Press reported June 13 that scammers and swindlers potentially swiped about $280 billion in COVID-19 emergency aid; another $123 billion was wasted or misspent. The bulk of the potential losses are from the two SBA programs and another to provide unemployment benefits to workers suddenly unemployed by the economic upheaval caused by the pandemic. The three initiatives were launched during the Trump administration and inherited by President Joe Biden. Combined, the loss estimated by AP represents 10% of the $4.2 trillion the U.S. government has so far disbursed in COVID relief aid.
The SBA inspector general, Hannibal “Mike” Ware, said in a statement on June 27 that the report “utilizes investigative casework, prior (inspector general) reporting, and cutting-edge data analysis to identify multiple fraud schemes used to potentially steal over $200 billion from American taxpayers and exploit programs meant to help those in need.”
Ware, in an interview with The Associated Press earlier this month, said that these latest fraud figures won’t be the last ones issued by his office.
“We will continue to assess fraud until we’re finished with the investigations on these things,” Ware said. That could be a long while. Ware’s office has a backlog of more than 90,000 actionable leads into pandemic relief fraud, which amounts to nearly a century’s worth of work.
SBA previously told The Associated Press the federal government has not developed an accepted system for assessing fraud in federal programs. Previous analyses, the agency said, have pointed to “potential fraud” or “fraud indicators” in a manner that conveys those numbers as a true fraud estimate when they are not. For the COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, the agency said it’s “working estimate” found $28 billion in likely fraud.
Han Nguyen, a spokesman for the SBA, said in a statement Tuesday that it is “vital to clarify that 86% of the likely fraud in the PPP and COVID-EIDL programs occurred in the first nine months of those programs when, as the (inspector general) has often noted, the rush to get funds out led to unwise decisions to pull down anti-fraud guardrails.”
Fraud in pandemic unemployment assistance programs stands at $76 billion, according to congressional testimony from Labor Department Inspector General Larry Turner. That’s a conservative estimate. Another $115 billion mistakenly went to people who should not have received the benefits, according to his testimony.
The Biden administration put in place stricter rules to stem pandemic fraud, including use of the “Do Not Pay” database. Biden also recently proposed a $1.6 billion plan to boost law enforcement efforts to go after pandemic relief fraudsters.
“I think the bottom line is regardless of what the (total fraud) number is, it emanates overwhelmingly from three programs that were designed and originated in 2020 with too many large holes that opened the door to criminal fraud,” Gene Sperling, the White House American Rescue Plan coordinator, said in an early June interview.
Bob Westbrooks, a former executive director of the federal Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, said in an interview the $200 billion number is “unacceptable, unprecedented and unfathomable.” Westbrooks published a book last week, “Left Holding the Bag: A Watchdog’s Account of How Washington Fumbled its COVID Test.”
“The swift distribution of funds and program integrity are not mutually exclusive,” Westbrooks said on June 27. “The government can walk and chew gum at the same time. They should have put basic fraud controls in place to verify people’s identity and to make sure targeted relief was getting into the right hands.”
Jennifer McDermott reported from Providence, Rhode Island.