Vance bars suspects connected to $39B in fraud

Vance and U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said many of Monday's suspensions are against individuals who defrauded the Paycheck Protection Program, a federal loan program designed to help small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The program was started during the first Trump administration. However, officials said fraud cases grew exponentially while the Biden administration ignored them.

"As it happens with so many of the programs that are born out of the generosity of the American taxpayer, we had many many people who took advantage of those programs," Vance said. 

Blanche said the U.S. Department of Justice has uncovered more than $245 million in losses due to fraud over the last two months while investigating fraud through "Heartland Fraud Surge," an operation based out of Missouri and Kansas. 

The attorney general highlighted two fraud cases where prosecutions are ongoing. In one case, Adam Gray allegedly attempted to steal more than $55 million by filing dozens of loan requests to the federal government for businesses that did not exist, Blanche said. 

In another case, Blanche said, two individuals in Iowa were charged with 47 counts of wire fraud for attempting to obtain loans for more than 100 immigrants from Cuba. 

"For years, fraudsters got the message that Washington would look the other way," Blanche said. "That era is over. We're charging more defendants, we're convicting more, we're taking the money back, we're working with every single federal agency using every tool in our toolbox to go after these fraudsters."

Small Business Administrator Kelly Loeffler said the suspensions bar individuals from accessing small business loans and contracting with federal programs. She also said the administration will send warning letters to suspected fraud actors in the coming weeks. 

"The message is clear: if you stole from the Paycheck Protection Program, if you created fake companies and lied about your employees, we know who you are, we will claw back the money and, where warranted, we will refer you to law enforcement so you can face the jail time you deserve," Loeffler said. 

Loeffler said the new prosecutions account for more than $49 billion in fraud across all 50 states through the Small Business Administration.

FBI Director Kash Patel pointed to the bureau's new "Most Wanted Fraudsters" list, released in June. He said three individuals have been captured in the last three months of the list's release and that he hopes to double the number by the end of the year. 

Vance called on Democrats in Congress to work alongside the administration in its effort to pursue fraud. He said American voters should not support Democrats who do not believe in pursuing fraud with the Trump administration.

"If you're thinking about defrauding the American taxpayer, if you're thinking about skimming off the top, if you're thinking about taking a program that was meant for hungry children or for needy young mothers, don't do it," Vance said. "Go and get a job instead.”