Launched in April 2021, the Western District of Oklahoma Coronavirus Fraud Task Force is getting results. The Task Force combines the efforts of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute fraud related to the COVID-19 pandemic. It focuses on programs created or funded by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security ACT (CARES Act) and the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), and it is designed to find the best way to detect, deter, and punish those who take advantage of federal and state programs during the pandemic. These programs include, but are not limited to, fraud involving the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL), the Main Street Lending Program, unemployment insurance fraud, and fraud involving pandemic-related supplies.
To date, Task Force efforts have produced the following cases:
Sentencings: