Aid may have gone to firms using suspect Social Security numbers
Summary
A Washington Post article by Tony Romm in the paper's Covid Money Trail series, updated January 30, 2023, under the headline "$5.4 billion in covid aid may have gone to firms using suspect Social Security numbers". It reports that the U.S. government may have awarded roughly $5.4 billion in coronavirus aid to small businesses with potentially ineligible Social Security numbers. The article calls this the latest indication that Washington's haste early in the pandemic opened the door for widespread waste, fraud and abuse. The findings come from the nation's top pandemic watchdog, as House Republicans planned their first hearing that week on coronavirus-related fraud.
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Cited in: Tony Romm
Archived web capture. Preserved source — captured from www.washingtonpost.com; archived 2026-07-04.
Cite this document
“Aid may have gone to firms using suspect Social Security numbers.”
Original at www.washingtonpost.com. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/ppp-covid-fraud-social-security-fe8b5befcbab61c8-8bd6472663/
, SHA-256 b02a9d5778cb24e06f2a8868c236b98f4dd4758b737047a4ad753f3cc0a4fd98.Full text
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Updated January 30, 2023 More than**3 years ago** 5 min 753 [Make us preferred on Google](https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=washingtonpost.com)  A rental sign is displayed at a retail property in Chicago on June 20, 2020. (Nam Y. Huh/AP)  By [Tony Romm](https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/tony-romm/) The U.S. government may have awarded roughly $5.4 billion in coronavirus aid to small businesses with potentially ineligible Social Security numbers, offering the latest indication that Washington’s haste earlier in the pandemic opened the door for widespread waste, fraud and abuse. [Get a curated selection of 10 of our best stories in your inbox every weekend.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/newsletters/must-reads/?method=SURL&location=ART&initiative=CTA) * * * 753**Comments**  Newsletter As news breaks  Economy & Business Alerts Important breaking news emails on the issues around the economy and business. 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