Around 15,000 fake accounts set up for COVID relief fraud
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Secret Service said it's retrieved $286 million in pandemic relief.
Money that had been received through fraud. It's all going back to the Small Business Administration (SBA.) Around 15,000 fake accounts were used to rack up the money, disrupting the lives of people like one California man.
"I had applied for a small business loan for $5,000 to open up my own deli in Texas. I can barely make peanut butter sandwiches, let alone open a deli!," said fraud victim Craig Franklin.
This month, President Biden signed into law two bipartisan bills extending the statute of limitations for COVID relief fraud enforcement to 10 years. The Secret Service said the extension will afford the agency the extra time it needs to track down the criminals