Rand Paul launches probe into report that scammers got $5 billion in COVID relief funds

Kentucky's U.S. Senator Rand Paul said he is "distressed" by a watchdog group's report that more than five billion dollars of federal COVID relief was awarded to scammers using fake identities and social security numbers.

Sen. Paul and Joni Ernst of Iowa said they are launching an investigation into $5.4 billion in small business loan fraud as the Biden administration prepares to wind down the COVID-19 pandemic emergency.

They sent a letter to the Inspector General of the Small Business Administration Monday, demanding an assessment into the "extent" of fraud in the Paycheck Protection Program.

The watchdog group Pandemic Response Accountability Committee reviewed over 33 million COVID-19 PPP applications and discovered 221,427 applications that used fraudulent social security numbers. They said 69,323 applications using questionable and unverified Social Security numbers successfully received a loan and/or grant. 

Eligibility for the disbursements could have been questioned further by the Small Business Administration before the loan and/or grant had been disbursed. The COVID-19 PPP loan programs required SBA to verify the accuracy of SSNs and the associated information on borrower applications, such as the applicants’ full names and dates of birth.

SSA is a recognized source for this information for a variety of federal programs.The investigation comes after President Biden told Congress on Monday that his administration will end two emergencies related to the COVID-19 pandemic on May 11, 2023, more than three years after they were enacted.

The investigation comes after President Biden told Congress on Monday that his administration will end two emergencies related to the COVID-19 pandemic on May 11, more than three years after they were enacted.