$6.5M in stolen taxpayer money secured by federal prosecutors in Arizona

PHOENIX — A total of $6,550,729 in stolen taxpayer money has been secured through a civil asset forfeiture action, according to Arizona prosecutors.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona announced Monday that the money was obtained “through (COVID-19) pandemic-related schemes.”

Fraudsters allegedly took advantage of pandemic-related funding programs that are meant to help with unemployment claims, such as the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act and the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. They were accused of impersonating U.S. citizens with “fabricated employment information” and routing funds from these programs to bank accounts created through stolen personal information.

More than 2,000 fake bank accounts were found after an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General in collaboration with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the U.S. Secret Service.

The COVID Fraud Task Force has recovered more than $1.4 billion nationally as of Monday.

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