This US House of Representatives Oversight CommitteeThe Republican-controlled legislature on Wednesday focused its initial investigation into federal spending during the pandemic, alleging massive fraud in the aid awarded.
“Unfortunately, the Democrats provided little enforcement and protection for wasting money. And What happens when there is no surveillance? nothing is good“, stressed James Comer, the commission’s chairman.
He said his goal is to show that there is little assurance that Democrats can prevent fraud, determine where these funds go, and determine what to do to prevent it from happening again.
The Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC), a federal oversight body created in March 2020, estimates that only potential fraud can be prevented in applications for economic injury disaster loan and disaster loan programs paycheck protection. Increased to $ 5.4 billion during the pandemic period.
“I cannot rule out that the scam could only be in the tens of billions, but perhaps more than 100,000 million, as some have predicted,” said PRAC chief Michael Horowitz. Government Accountability Bureau, Gene Dodaro, and David Smith, deputy director of the Secret Service Investigation Office.
In the midst of an epidemic, Horowitz added, “We were willing to provide the money as soon as possible to make sure it arrived”.
According to Dodaro, there are indeed signs of fraud, but its extent is impossible to pinpoint: “Agency should have been much more prepared to prevent it in the first place,” he said.
Urgency to deliver funds complicated the transparency and accountability required by lawand unless there are changes, you will not be better prepared for future emergencies in the future, the latter warned.
The Auditor General hoped that legislators would be able to “work out solutions” so that the next time emergency funds are approved, it gets to those who need it, and that such fraudulent activities do not allow “invasion.” national programmes. .
In the United States, more than 1,000 people plead guilty or convicted of federal fraud charges in covid-19 relief programs, more than 600 individuals and organizations face similar charges, and the Department of Labor is filing 100 new fraud cases each week, according to the Oversight Committee. .
Comer expected more of these hearings on “this important issue”: “We owe it to the American people to get to the root of the largest theft of American taxpayer dollars in history.”
Source: Informacion
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