Pilgrim rest baptist church embezzlement11/12/2023 ![]() Next, it explores the potential charges and enforcement powers the government will be able to deploy in investigating fraud related to COVID-19 relief, including a discussion of the oversight measures already created by the CARES Act. This article first covers some historical fraud task force investigations in the wake of previous disasters and stimulus responses. Moreover, increased enforcement activity can lead to the collateral consequences of innocent companies and individuals being investigated. 1 The risk of confirmation bias will only become higher in the emotionally-charged environment caused by the global pandemic. Once an investigation starts, it can sometimes be hard to stop as the investigators may fall prey to confirmation bias. The costs of defending against an investigation – both financial and reputational – can be devastating even if no wrongdoing is found. The government has an arsenal of both criminal and civil enforcement powers to prosecute suspected malfeasance. ![]() Officers and directors making decisions today should expect to be scrutinized by both government regulators and whistleblowers in the years to come.Ĭompanies and individuals applying for and receiving stimulus funding must take special care with compliance and proper stewardship of those funds. With past disasters and their stimulus responses as a guide, state and federal governments announced COVID-19/CARES Act fraud task forces shortly after funds began to flow. Such limited front-end oversight, coupled with huge sums of money being quickly distributed, will likely lead to increased enforcement activity and a desire to seek out and mete out punishment against wrongdoers as examples to deter others. Given the size and scope of the government aid here, front-end oversight will necessarily be limited. However, the new and hastily drafted regulations that accompany these funds also increase the risk of compliance missteps and mistakes that can just as easily give rise to law enforcement knocking on the door of legitimate companies conscientiously trying to follow the law. To be sure, with trillions of dollars deployed by the government in such a short time frame, the temptation may very well be overwhelming for intentional bad actors. History teaches that a rapid influx of funding – this time in an unprecedented amount – inevitably leads to an increase of fraudulent activity. ![]() Since then, more legislation has been passed to provide hundreds of billions of dollars in additional funding to support the American economy. government appropriated $2.2 trillion to counteract the havoc wrecked on the American economy by COVID-19 – the largest economic stimulus package in history. With the enactment of the CARES Act on March 25, 2020, the U.S. His response: “Because that’s where the money is.” Introduction Footnotes for this article are available at the end of this page.Ĭriminal Willie Sutton was once asked why he robbed banks. ![]()
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