The U.S. Secret Service said on Aug. 26 that it had seized $286 million in fraudulently obtained pandemic loans, bringing the total amount of stolen funds recovered by the agency to $1.4 billion since the relief program was rolled out in 2020.
The Secret Service said in a statement that it had returned the $286 million to the Small Business Administration (SBA), the federal agency responsible for distributing relief funds under various programs enacted at the height of the pandemic.
All the funds in question were stolen by criminals who fraudulently submitted applications under the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) scheme. The program, which ended several months ago, was meant to help small businesses recover from the economic impact of the COVID-19 outbreak….