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How to Catch Pandemic Fraud? Prosecutors Try Novel Methods.

Federal prosecutors are scrambling to recoup billions of dollars in pandemic aid from people who falsely obtained funds from government programs that were intended to keep the economy afloat during […]




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Prosecutors Struggle to Catch Up to a Tidal Wave of Pandemic Fraud

In the midst of the pandemic, the government gave unemployment benefits to the incarcerated, the imaginary and the dead. It sent money to “farms” that turned out to be front […]




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How a Relief Fund for Restaurants Picked Winners and Losers

When Congress created a grant program early this year to help battered bars and restaurants survive the pandemic, one thing was immediately clear: The money would not be enough. The […]




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How Two Start-ups Made a Fortune in Fees on P.P.P. Loans

Also in late February, Blueacorn and Womply got an unexpected tailwind from a major rule change by the Small Business Administration, which oversaw the loan program. Concerned that women and […]




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Judges Halt Race and Gender Priority for Restaurant Relief Grants

The business owners who brought the suits are among the non-priority applicants that have been paid, the agency said in court filings. On June 1, the S.B.A. paid $187,753 to […]




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The Small Business Administration’s Gaffes Are Now Her Job to Fix

Isabella Casillas Guzman, President Biden’s choice to run the Small Business Administration, inherited a portfolio of nearly $1 trillion in emergency aid and an agency plagued by controversy when she […]




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As Paycheck Protection Program Runs Dry, Desperation Grows

The government’s $788 billion relief effort for small businesses ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic, the Paycheck Protection Program, is ending as it began, with the initiative’s final days mired in […]




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Lenders Struggle to Implement Biden’s Changes to P.P.P. Loan Rules

Under the new formula, sole proprietors can get loans based instead on their income before expenses. That opens the program to unprofitable businesses and allows those that did report a […]