Justice Department Announces COVID-19 Fraud Strike Force Teams (September 14, 2022)

Summary

A Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs press release dated September 14, 2022 announcing three COVID-19 Fraud Strike Force teams operating out of U.S. Attorney's Offices in the Southern District of Florida, the District of Maryland, and a joint effort between the Central and Eastern Districts of California. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland is quoted as saying the department has seized over $1.2 billion in relief funds and charged over 1,500 defendants. The release states that civil investigations cover more than 1,800 individuals and entities over pandemic relief loans totaling more than $6 billion. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael C. Galdo, Deputy Director for COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement, will lead the teams, which include agents from the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, the FBI and other agencies.

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                                     Department of Justice
                                     Office of Public Affairs
_____________________________________________________________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, September 14, 2022

     Justice Department Announces COVID-19 Fraud Strike Force Teams

     Strike Force Team Locations Include Los Angeles, Sacramento, Miami, and Baltimore

Today the Justice Department announced the establishment of three Strike Force teams created
to enhance the Department’s existing efforts to combat and prevent COVID-19 related fraud.
“These Strike Force teams will build on the Department’s historic enforcement efforts to deter,
detect, and disrupt pandemic fraud wherever it occurs,” said Attorney General Merrick B.
Garland. “Since the start of this pandemic, the Justice Department has seized over $1.2 billion in
relief funds that criminals were attempting to steal, and charged over 1,500 defendants with
crimes in federal districts across the country, but our work is far from over. The Department will
continue to work relentlessly to combat pandemic fraud and hold accountable those who
perpetrate it.”
The Strike Force teams will operate out of U.S. Attorney’s Offices in the Southern District of
Florida, the District of Maryland, and a joint effort between the Central and Eastern Districts of
California.
“The Strike Force teams are the latest example of the Justice Department’s commitment to fight
pandemic fraud,” said Associate Deputy Attorney General Kevin Chambers, who serves as the
Department’s Director for COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement. “The work being done by our
prosecutors, trial attorneys, agents and partners on our COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task
Force has been extraordinary. We’re going a step further today with the announcement of Strike
Force teams to support, enhance, and continue the great work being done across the
Department.”
As Director for COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement, Chambers leads the Department’s criminal and
civil enforcement efforts to combat COVID-19 related fraud. To date, those efforts have resulted
in criminal charges against over 1,500 defendants with alleged losses exceeding $1.1 billion; the
seizure of over $1.2 billion in relief funds; and civil investigations into more than 1,800
individuals and entities for alleged misconduct in connection with pandemic relief loans totaling
more than $6 billion.
“I am excited to work alongside these dynamic interagency teams,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney
Michael C. Galdo, the Justice Department’s Deputy Director for COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement,
who will lead the Strike Force teams. “Assembling the fraud, cybercrime, and money laundering
expertise of all our agency partners in these prosecutor-driven Strike Force teams is the best way
to bring these fraudsters to justice.”
The Strike Force teams are comprised of dedicated prosecutors and agents from the Department
of Labor Office of Inspector General, the Small Business Administration Office of Inspector
General, the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General, the FBI, the U.S.
Secret Service, Homeland Security Investigations, Internal Revenue Service Criminal
Investigations, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, with assistance from the Pandemic
Response Accountability Committee and the Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery.
“Criminals took advantage of the worst pandemic in a century to line their pockets with public
money intended for struggling businesses and workers forced to sit idle,” said Acting U.S.
Attorney Stephanie S. Christensen of the Central District of California. “Our office’s
participation in the COVID-19 Strike Force reflects our determination to maximize our resources
to root out and punish wrongdoers who used a national emergency to steal from American
taxpayers.”
“Cheaters have been living large on funds intended to keep families and local business afloat
during a national crisis,” said U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron of the District of Maryland. “Our
office is proud to participate in the COVID-19 Strike Force. We’ll continue prosecuting large-
scale COVID-19 fraud while also integrating this priority into our violent crime strategy.”
“The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California is proud to be included as a
part of the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Strike Force,” said U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert.
“We have had early successes pursuing COVID-19 fraud both civilly and criminally. For
example, our district obtained the first civil settlement in the nation for fraud related to the
CARES Act’s Paycheck Protection Program, and we have brought a number of criminal
prosecutions against defendants who obtained through fraud relief monies intended to help those
in need. We remain committed to leading investigations and vigorously prosecuting those who
commit COVID-19 fraud.”
“Over the years, the South Florida U.S. Attorney’s Office and its law enforcement partners have
developed robust domestic and international fraud and money laundering practices,” said Juan
Antonio Gonzalez, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida. “Our experience with
these data-driven financial prosecutions allowed us to launch an early and aggressive attack on
COVID-19 relief fraud in our district, holding accountable those who tried to capitalize on an
unprecedented crisis. We are proud to have been selected to lead one of three COVID-19 Fraud
Strike Force teams and look forward to continuing to advance this important Department of
Justice effort.”
Since the establishment of the COVID-19 Fraud Task Force by the Attorney General in May
2021, the Department has worked closely with our law enforcement partners to analyze the
extraordinary amount of data from our state workforce agency partners and the Small Business
Administration. That data is the key to identifying and prosecuting the organized criminal groups
and networks of overseas fraudsters who stole pandemic relief funds. The Strike Force teams are
designed to accelerate the process of turning data analytics into criminal investigations, which
will enhance our prosecutions. This prosecutor-led approach has proven successful in other
organized crime arenas; it will be key to dismantling the networks that stole pandemic relief
funds.
In May 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to
marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across
government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The task force
bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international
criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud
by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms,
identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing
and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts.
The Justice Department’s efforts to combat COVID-19 related fraud schemes have proceeded on
numerous fronts, including cases and investigations involving the Paycheck Protection Program
(PPP), Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program, Unemployment Insurance (UI)
programs, and COVID-19 health care fraud enforcement.
For further information on the Criminal Division’s enforcement efforts on PPP fraud, including
court documents from significant cases, visit the following website:
https://www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/ppp-fraud. For more information on the Department’s
response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus. For further
information on the Civil Division’s enforcement efforts, visit the following website:
https://www.justice.gov/civil.
Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it
by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at
866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-
fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.


Topic(s):
Health Care Fraud
Component(s):
Criminal - Criminal Fraud Section
Office of the Attorney General
USAO - California, Central
USAO - California, Eastern
USAO - Florida, Southern
USAO – Maryland

Press Release Number:
22-970
                                                                    Updated September 14, 2022


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