|
“We’re working with over 40 law enforcement agencies to go after
this fraud. No one who committed fraud should rest comfortably
at this point, just because people have started to move on
from the pandemic.”
-PRAC Chair Michael Horowitz on ‘Federal Drive with Tom Temin’
The PRAC operates as the linchpin in the fight against pandemic-related fraud. We equip dozens of law enforcement agencies and strike forces with the data, analytics, leads, and resources necessary to detect and investigate billions in fraud.
We are moving full speed ahead to overtake fraudsters and recover every penny that we can for taxpayers.
You can hear more from this interview below:
|
|
Setting the PACE
Our Pandemic Analytics Center of Excellence (PACE) creates sophisticated data products such as risk models to identify anomalies that may indicate potential fraud across multiple pandemic government programs.
The PACE’s advanced data analytics assisted a case where two men and their co-conspirators were recently charged in a $4.2 million pandemic relief fraud scheme. They allegedly submitted falsified and fraudulent documents in their applications for funds. The two men allegedly obtained nearly $3 million for entities they controlled and another $1.3 million for businesses in the names of their co-conspirators.
|
|
Leading the way
Dozens of our law enforcement, Offices of Inspectors General (OIGs), and strike and task force partners rely on the PRAC to identify new investigative leads and uncover potential fraudulent activity. Using advanced analytic techniques, we look at data across multiple pandemic programs to find commonalities and inconsistencies.
As a member of the National Unemployment Insurance Fraud Task Force we’ve helped generate nearly 200 pandemic fraud leads, each with numerous claims of potential pandemic fraud. This represents a total of over $3.3 billion in suspected pandemic fraud.
|
|
The road ahead
Crime can't win. To continue our collective success in investigating pandemic fraud and recouping money for taxpayers, the Department of Justice COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force’s annual report recommends the following actions:
- Extend the statute of limitations for all pandemic-related offenses.
- Extend the PRAC's statutory authorization.
- Provide adequate resources for data sharing, lead generation, criminal prosecutions, and asset recoveries.
|
|
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disclaimer: An indictment is a formal accusation of a serious crime. However, all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
|
|
|
|
45+ federal law enforcement partners
