In April 2024, the Justice Department’s COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force (CFETF) released a report outlining the blatant and widespread fraud involving many COVID-19 relief programs. In all, 3,500 people were charged and over $2 billion in stolen COVID funds were seized.
Lots of people exploited the government’s relief efforts for personal gain, and none of them will surprise you.
In the first example, the taxpayer-funded pandemic relief program called the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) was established to help performance venues and arts organizations pay the bills. Trump signed it into law in 2020. A Business Insider report showed that artists like Lil Wayne and Chris Brown received millions in grant money, using it for private jets, designer clothing and $80,000 birthday parties.
In the second example is the story of the glamorous Napa Valley 5-star hotel, Auberge du Soleil which costs $2000 a night. Still, the hotel wasn’t the investment two of its investors hoped it would be. They lost money for years, but that changed in 2020/2021 when the hotel received $9 million in COVID-19 relief. Keep in mind these relief funds were Congressionally authorized.
Who are the investors, you ask?
None other than Nancy and Paul Pelosi. Her own ethics forms filed in Congress show that in 2021, her income from this resort alone surged to $1 to $5 million. And this Napa hotel was not the only one. Many Pelosi-backed hotels, restaurants and other properties received multitudes of Covid relief funding.
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