WASHINGTON, Aug 24 — The US Justice Department said yesterday it has seized over US$1.4 billion (RM6.5 billion) in Covid-19 relief funds that criminals had stolen, and charged over 3,000 defendants with crimes in federal districts across the country.

The Justice Department disclosed the results of a nationwide enforcement action to combat coronavirus fraud, including federal criminal charges against 371 defendants for offenses related to over US$836 million in alleged Covid fraud.

"This latest action, involving over 300 defendants and over US$830 million in alleged Covid-19 fraud, should send a clear message: the Covid-19 public health emergency may have ended, but the Justice Department’s work to identify and prosecute those who stole pandemic relief funds is far from over,” US Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.

A total of 119 defendants pleaded guilty or were convicted at trial during the sweep, according to the Justice Department.

The United States is probing many fraud cases pegged to US government assistance programs. In May 2021, Garland launched a Covid fraud enforcement task force.

Last year, the US Justice Department tapped federal prosecutor Kevin Chambers to lead its efforts to investigate alleged fraud schemes targeting pandemic assistance programs.

Over US$200 billion from the US government’s Covid-19 relief programmes were potentially stolen, a federal watchdog said in late June, adding that the US Small Business Administration (SBA) had weakened its controls in a rush to disburse the funds.

In September 2022, the inspector general for the US Labour Department said fraudsters likely stole US$45.6 billion from the United States’ unemployment insurance programme during the coronavirus outbreak by applying tactics like using Social Security numbers of deceased individuals.

Earlier this year, a separate watchdog report said the US government likely awarded about US$5.4 billion in Covid-19 aid to people with questionable Social Security numbers. — Reuters