KANSAS CITY — Vice President JD Vance announced Monday that roughly 870,000 fraudsters will be permanently barred from receiving small business loans after pilfering tens of billions of dollars from COVID-era programs.
The vice president revealed the fraud targeted the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster loans — and ended up handing out as much as $39 billion to bogus recipients.
“As it happens with so many of the programs that are born out of the generosity of the American taxpayer, we had many, many people who took advantage of those programs, people who decided to steal from the American taxpayer, steal money that was supposed to go to small businesses and American workers as well,” Vance said in his latest fraud crackdown effort.
“If you screw the American taxpayer, the government is now gonna say you’re cut off — no more.”
Attorney General Todd Blanche shared details about prosecutions of some fraudulent loansters, including one who operated dozens of fake businesses to obtain the loans, while running only one real business called “Fur Lives Matter.”
In his speech at the Republican midterm convention last week, Vance said around $250 billion has been recovered so far through his anti-fraud task force’s efforts.
