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Commentary By Brian Riedl

Pandemic Fraud and Waste Are a National Scandal

Economics Monetary Policy

Lawmakers need to learn lessons from the hundreds of billions of dollars in waste from Covid-relief programs.

A Florida man fraudulently used a $7.2 million emergency loan to purchase a 12,579-square-foot mansion and several cars. A California couple fraudulently collected $18 million and purchased “three houses, diamonds, gold coins, luxury watches, expensive furniture and other valuables.” Another man forged enough applications to collect $27 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds.

“The biggest fraud in a generation.” That’s how a former U.S. attorney described the immense waste and abuse from the federal government’s emergency pandemic aid. The extent of this fraud and waste is still being uncovered, and most lawmakers do not want to discuss this national scandal.

Continue reading the entire piece here at National Review

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Brian M. Riedl is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. Follow him on Twitter here

This piece originally appeared in National Review