Justice Department report confirms contemporaneous COVID critics.

Thousands of people have been charged with the theft of more than $2 billion in COVID-19 aid following a nationwide operation conducted by federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, and law enforcement's response appears to validate contemporaneous criticism that was widely ignored as lawmakers crafted emergency legislation.

The US Justice Department's COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force (CFETF) released its 2024 report on widespread fraud related to COVID-19 relief programs, which not only highlights the scale of criminal exploitation but also validates real-time criticism of the legislation from individuals like Lisa McCormick.

Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said the task force charged over 3,500 defendants and more than $1.4 billion in stolen relief funds have been seized or forfeited as a result of investigations into various fraudulent activities, including identity theft, money laundering networks, and cyber-enabled fraud.

“Since I established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force three years ago, we have charged more than 3,500 defendants, seized or forfeited over $1.4 billion in stolen COVID-19 relief funds, and filed more than 400 civil lawsuits resulting in court judgments and settlements,” said Garland. “Our work is not over. We will continue our efforts to investigate and prosecute pandemic relief fraud and to recover the assets that have been stolen from American taxpayers.”

McCormick, the progressive activist who was challenging incumbent Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman for the Democratic nomination for Congress in New Jersey’s 12th District when the law was enacted, said her then-opponent voted to give Republican President Donald Trump a $6 trillion slush fund that will benefit his re-election more than it will help the country recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

McCormick was among a select few — among them Matt Stoller, former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich and Matt Taibbi — who argued that Congress handed Trump a $6 trillion slush fund with no strings attached, no real directives on how the money was to be spent and no relation to the emergency needs of patients, care providers or the ordinary people who were in lockdown.

Three months after these critics explained that the government was so deeply corrupted that both Democrats and Republicans robbed trillions of dollars from America’s middle class while millions of us were fighting to survive the deadly pandemic, McCormick noted that there were no TV & radio news reports on the subject, no daily newspaper stories, and no debates allowing the candidates to air these differences on the matter.

McCormick's contention about the potential for abuse in the relief measures are echoed in the Justice Department's report, which said the task force’s member agencies leveled criminal charges against more than 3,500 defendants for losses of over $2 billion, civil enforcement actions resulting in more than 400 civil settlements and judgments of over $100 million, and over $1.4 billion seized or forfeited.

McCormick's assertion that the legislation was a "$6 trillion slush fund" lacking urgently needed mechanisms to safeguard taxpayer funds finds resonance in the report's findings of over $2 billion in losses to crime.

The disparity in relief distribution between states politically favorable to Trump, which was also highlighted by McCormick, is not addressed in the DOJ's review of these programs.

However, the report outlines the establishment of strike forces and task forces to combat complex and harmful pandemic fraud, underscoring the multifaceted nature of the challenge to identify and prevent fraudulent activities.

Although the Justice Department deployed a data-driven strategy to combat COVID-19 fraud, “the time is now to ensure law enforcement has what it needs to finish the job,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. “The statute of limitations must be extended and the necessary funding and data analytic tools secured for our prosecutors to recover hundreds of millions of dollars more in fraud proceeds, bring remaining offenders to justice, and disrupt criminal networks that continue to victimize our citizens.”

The call for legislative action articulated by the CFETF, makes McCormick's advocacy seem prescient.

Extending the statute of limitations for COVID-19 fraud-related offenses, ensuring adequate resourcing for anti-fraud efforts, and strengthening oversight mechanisms are crucial steps to mitigate future abuses.

In essence, the Justice Department's report validates concerns raised by McCormick and raises questions about why new media outlets ignored her calls for concerted action to address the vulnerabilities in the COVID-19 relief programs before these funds were raided.

As the nation continues its recovery efforts, ensuring accountability and transparency in relief spending remains paramount.

“While I am incredibly proud of the work of the CFETF and the significant law enforcement accomplishments, much work remains in the fight against COVID-19 fraud,” said Director Michael C. Galdo of the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force. “The CFETF and its member agencies have ongoing investigations into hundreds of identity thieves, transnational fraud and money laundering networks, large-dollar individual fraudsters, and the businesses that facilitated these crimes. CFETF member agencies have improved their data analytics capabilities and are using these new skills to investigate fraud more efficiently and effectively.”

The CFETF has established five strike forces to focus on the most complex and harmful pandemic fraud—often committed by overseas, organized, or violent actors.

Those strike forces, located in the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices across the country including the District of New Jersey, are responsible for indicting 250 defendants to date, including gang members, inveterate fraudsters, and overseas rings committing a myriad of cyber-enabled fraud against our citizens and government programs.

CFETF members also established the National Unemployment Insurance Fraud Task Force, a first-of-its-kind task force that developed a data sharing and lead development process within OCDETF’s International Organized Crime Intelligence Operation Center (IOC-2), using data from pandemic relief programs. The NUIFTF has used that process to disseminate over 100 leads and intelligence associated with over $3 billion in suspected pandemic fraud.