Congress examines fraud in pandemic aid for small businesses

By JENNIFER McDERMOTT and GEOFF MULVIHILL
Associated Press

A congressional panel is set to examine payouts under a federal coronavirus pandemic aid program intended to help small businesses weather the COVID-19 outbreak. Tuesday’s hearing comes amid revelations as much as 20% of the money may have been awarded to fraudsters. The COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan program is overseen by the U.S. Small Business Administration. Congressional investigators have found 1.6 million loan applications may have been approved without being evaluated. The House subcommittee looking into the program says more than $10 billion in business loans has been returned because of investigations and bank actions. The SBA’s Office of the Inspector General says it’s “aggressively rooting out the fraud.”