US loses over $200b to fraud in COVID small business loans

WASHINGTON—The United States lost more than $200 billion to fraud from two schemes designed to help small businesses through the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a US government watchdog report.

“We identified multiple schemes used by fraudsters to steal from the American taxpayer and exploit programs meant to help those in need,” the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Ofice of Inspector General (OIG) said in a new report.

The potentially fraudulent loans were disbursed through two Covid-19 programs, the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), according to the report published on Tuesday.

“Over $200 billion in potentially fraudulent Covid-19 EIDLs, EIDL Targeted Advances, Supplemental Targeted Advances, and PPP loans,” the

UBS to cut 35k jobs after Credit Suisse takeover

GENEVA, Switzerland—Swiss banking group UBS plans to cut 35,000 jobs at Credit Suisse—more than half its workforce—as part of the emergency rescue takeover of its rival in March, according to a report by Bloomberg News on Tuesday.

Credit Suisse had a staff of around 45,000 before it nearly collapsed on investor fears about its solvency, which prompted a massive bailout orchestrated by the Swiss government.

Analysts had warned that huge job losses were likely because of the overlapping activities at two of the world’s most important banks.

UBS declined to comment on the reported job cuts when contacted by AFP.

Combined, the two groups had around 120,000 employees at the end of last year, with 37,000 of them in Switzerland.

The Bloomberg report, citing sources close to the companies, said employees had been told of three coming waves of jobs cuts this year —the first at end-July, the others in September and October.

UBS chief executive Sergio Ermotti had warned earlier this month that the coming months were likely to be “bumpy”, saying the merger would require “waves” of difficult decisions, particularly regarding employment. AFP

SBA report said.

“This means at least 17 percent of all COVID-19 EIDL and PPP funds were disbursed to potentially fraudulent actors,” according to the SBA.

The US government provided around $4.6 trillion of funding for pandemic response and recovery, according to a recent estimate by the nonpartisan Government Accountability Ofice (GAO).

Of this, around $90.5 billion in funding remained unspent as of January 2023, according to the GAO.

The OIG’s oversight and investigative work resulted in more than 1,000 indictments, and 529 convictions related to Covid fraud, according to the SBA.

These investigations have resulted in “nearly $30 billion in Covid-19 EIDL and PPP funds being seized or returned to SBA,” the report found. AFP