Yesterday, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida issued a PRESS RELEASE announcing an update on their criminal enforcement efforts to combat fraud under the CARES Act. In particular, the enforcement efforts include prosecutions against defendants accused of trying to steal funds from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program and the Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefit program.
This dovetails with the DOJ’s national efforts in this regard, and will no doubt be a focus in the coming year and beyond.
The Southern District of Florida is the national leader in COVID-19 financial fraud prosecutions. The Press Release identified eighteen (18) COVID-19 fraud cases that were charged in the Southern District of Florida just in the last 30 days.