With fraud, the actual amounts taken from U.S. government benefit programs extends far beyond the amount stolen. The apparent and not so apparent costs of fraud can amount to far more than the reported amount the fraudster took. And truly change the answer to the question on everyone’s mind: “how much did they take?
In its recently released 2021 audit report, the Government Accountability Office found that more than $281 billion was lost due to improper payments, $381 billion to tax fraud and $100 billion to COVID-19 fraud. These figures are staggering, to say the least.
The cost of fraud grows much higher, especially when factoring in the indirect costs, such as the cost of technology and programs used to detect and prevent. But the impacts of fraud have others as well, such as the loss of time, productivity, and more money to fund criminal programs. Consider what was involved with the arrest and guilty verdict of Abhishek Krishnan.
Krishnan previously resided in Wake County, North Carolina, before returning to his home country of India. After returning to India, Krishnan allegedly submitted numerous fraudulent PPP loan applications to federally insured banks, including the names of companies that were not registered business entities. As part of the fraud scheme, Krishnan allegedly used the name of another person without that person’s authority. Krishnan allegedly submitted at least 17 Paycheck Protection Program loan applications seeking over $8.2 million and received more than $3.3 million in loan proceeds.
How much did Krishnan really take? When we consider the departments involved, Treasury Inspector General, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, US Marshals Service and Small Business Administration to name a few, the cost of resources could surpass the amount stolen!.
Today’s Fraud of the Day is based on an article ”Greedy Indian Found Guilty Of $8 Million Fraud in US” published by Mirichi 9 on November 9, 2022
On the face of it, a name like Abhishek Krishnan, 40, living in Wake County, North Carolina, looks extremely normal. However, when one gets to know his story, it is hard to believe that someone with such a simple identity could defraud the federal government of $8 million through the COVID-19 relief fraud scheme. The said man fraudulently obtained millions of dollars in Paycheck Protection Programme (PPP) loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
According to US officials, Krishnan returned to India and allegedly submitted numerous PPP loan applications to federally insured banks. That also included false statements about companies’ employees and payroll expenses as well as falsified tax filings.
