Nearly 100 billion of COVID relief funds stolen, recovery coordinator announced

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Secret Service has named Assistant Special Agent in Charge Roy Dotson of the Jacksonville field office as the National Pandemic Fraud Recovery Coordinator. In this role, ASAIC Dotson will coordinate efforts across multiple ongoing Secret Service investigations into the fraudulent use of COVID-19 relief applications, with potentially fraudulent activity nearing $100 billion*.

While fraud related to personal protective equipment was of primary concern to law enforcement, including the Secret Service, early in the pandemic, the release of federal funding through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act has attracted the attention of individuals and organized criminal networks worldwide. The exploitation of pandemic-related relief is an investigative priority for the Secret Service and its partners.

As part of his duties as National Pandemic Fraud Recovery Coordinator, ASAIC Dotson will coordinate with financial institutions and money services businesses, United States Attorney Offices, and other federal agencies regarding large-scale seizures of illicitly obtained pandemic relief funds. This includes unemployment insurance, U.S. Small Business Administration loan and grant programs, and other benefit programs.

“The Secret Service currently has more than 900 active criminal investigations into fraud specific to pandemic-related relief funds,” said Roy Dotson, Assistant Special Agent in Charge. “That’s a combination of pandemic benefits and all the other benefits programs too. Every state has been hit, some harder than others. The Secret Service is hitting the ground running, trying to recover everything we can, including funds stolen from both federal and state programs.”

The Secret Service, through its network of Cyber Fraud Task Forces and in partnership with Federal and State, local, tribal, and territorial partners, as well as foreign law enforcement, academia, and the private sector partners, particularly financial institutions, are addressing the ongoing criminal activity through prevention, mitigation, and investigation.

The Secret Service CFTFs are staffed with special agents, financial, criminal and digital forensics analysts who are all supported by the Global Investigative Operations Center at Secret Service headquarters. As national coordinator, ASAIC Dotson is also spearheading cryptocurrency investigations involving the use of unsuspecting victims as money mules to move stolen funds from one account to another within the cyber arena.

“The Secret Service has seen a huge uptick in electronic crime in furtherance of these fraud cases,” Dotson continued. “Criminals will often ask potential victims to open an account and move money for them for some reason as part of a ruse.” Fraudsters, for example, prey on people by engaging them online as part of a romance scam, phony job opportunity or other scheme, and then asking for financial favors. “Targeted individuals are often asked to open bank accounts and accept large sum deposits,” Dotson said. “As a result, people are becoming unwitting mules for stolen money.”

To date, Secret Service investigations and investigative inquiries into UI and SBA loan fraud have resulted in the seizure of more than $1.2 billion and the return of more than $2.3 billion of fraudulently obtained funds via Automated Clearing House reversals. These investigations have led to the arrest of 100 individuals responsible for UI and SBA loan fraud. The Secret Service continues to work closely with the U.S. Department of Labor and SBA Offices of Inspectors General, and the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee on identifying and preventing these crimes.

The Secret Service has developed a national network of Cyber Fraud Task Forces for the purpose of preventing, detecting and investigating various forms of electronic crimes. These task forces are supported by the headquarters-based Global Investigative Operations Center with technical infrastructure, strategic guidance and expert knowledge. This unified approach toward preventing cybercrime has enabled the Secret Service to prevent billions in financial loss.