ATLANTA — It’s been nearly four years since COVID-19 changed just about everything in our lives. We’re still feeling the effects, especially when it comes to your money.
The federal government is cracking down on millions of dollars in COVID fraud schemes.
“Now the focus is more scrutinizing what happened to that money and try to figure out where it went missing,” said former Federal and State Prosecutor Scott Hulsey.
“It’s starting to become clear there are people who defraud the system and those cases are starting to come to light.”
The Department of Justice said many people nationwide, including several from Georgia, stole millions and millions of dollars.
They’re fighting to get that money back, “Many of these people may go to jail. Whether they go to jail or serve probation, it’s going to be determined by the amount of fraud. On top of that the government wants to recover the funds that were stolen. These were funds ultimately provided by the American people,” said Hulsey.
Channel 2 Action News recently learned a Georgia attorney and former City of Atlanta Police Officer 62-year old Shelita Robertson was convicted of stealing $7 million under the PPP.
Court records show she submitted PPP Loan Applications on behalf of four businesses she owned. Four other people across the state are also being charged with PPP Fraud. One is from McDonough.
Meanwhile the price tag for the amount of stolen funds, is a hefty one, “As a country, we’re seeing hundreds of these cases adding up to millions if not tens of millions of dollars,” said Hulsey.