The Secret Service said Friday it has helped recover and return to the government nearly $2.3 billion in bogus pandemic benefits, including a major new operation that netted nearly $300 million in fraudulent small business loans.
Agents in the Secret Service’s Orlando, Florida, office noticed that fraudsters were using a particular payment system, Green Dot Bank, to move their money around. Working with the bank, the service said it identified more than 15,000 accounts that were being used to funnel money stolen by fraud.
Agents seized $286 million from those accounts and returned the money to the Small Business Administration.