Billions Of Dollars Wasted From US Program Intended To Help Small Businesses Survive COVID-19 Pandemic: Report

A report released by Democratic lawmakers has revealed that billions of dollars may have been subjected to abuse and fraud out of the $659 billion taxpayer-funded programs meant to help small businesses in the U.S. survive the coronavirus pandemic.

The report, released on Tuesday, Sept 01, revealed how loans worth more than $1 billion may have gone to companies that that received multiple loans. This has been reported as a fraud and a misuse of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

The House of Representatives Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis said that such companies engaged in the violation of the PPP’s rules, which was meant to protect small businesses from the wrath of the coronavirus pandemic.

Committee Chairman James Clyburn further blamed the Trump administration for not doing enough to prevent such waste and fraud.

“Taxpayers should not have to choose between quickly getting aid to those who need it and wasting federal funds. And there are simple steps that could have been taken to improve oversight and reduce fraud,” he said.

Even though the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has not confirmed the abuse of money by companies under the PPP, an internal watchdog did they that there is strong evidence that a potential fraud may have taken place.

Even though the Trump administration claims that the PPP helped save more than 51 million jobs at a time when the economy has been drastically affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S.

However, economists estimate that number to be much less. They estimate that the impact of PPP is much lower and it helped save somewhere between 1 million to 14 million jobs in the U.S.

Meanwhile, the Democrats in Congress as well as the Trump administration continue to remain in a tiff over the steps needed to boost the dwindling economy.