IRS investigators have uncovered more than $1.8 billion in fraudulent activity related to federal COVID-19 stimulus funds, the agency said Wednesday.
Two years after the Trump administration passed the first trillion-dollar stimulus package, which provided $1,200 checks to individuals and forgivable loans to small businesses as the US economy shut down, the IRS said it has closed 660 criminal cases related to various stimulus bills prompted by the pandemic.
“These cases included a broad range of criminal activity, including fraudulently obtained loans, credits and payments meant for American workers, families, and small businesses,” the IRS Criminal Investigation division said in a statement.