The Department of Justice announced it has charged nearly 500 people with engaging in COVID-19 scams worth hundreds of millions of dollars. “The Department of Justice (DOJ) has led a historic enforcement initiative to detect and disrupt COVID-19 related fraud schemes,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a news release on Friday, referring to the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus. “The impact of the department’s work to date sends a clear and unmistakable message to those who would exploit a national emergency to steal taxpayer-funded resources from vulnerable individuals and small businesses.” The agency charged 474 defendants with engaging in criminally fraudulent schemes and attempted to obtain over $569 million from the federal government as well as unsuspecting victims. “We are committed to protecting the American people and the integrity of the critical lifelines provided for them by Congress, and we will continue to respond to …