Hi and welcome to the A16C podcast I'm Lauren Murrow. This episode is all about the

potential for misuse and fraud among those applying for coronavirus relief and

how FinTech and software provide overlooked tools to stop it. On March 27th, the government

enacted a 2.2 trillion dollar stimulus package called the CARES Act, the

largest aid measure in history. The Act provides more than 500 billion dollars for the Paycheck Protection

Program or PPP a low interest forgiveness loan program designed to help small

businesses and self-employed individuals retain workers and stay afloat during the pandemic.

Since March, the Small Business Administration has approved billions of dollars in PPP loans.

But it is also estimated that U.S. losses from coronavirus-related fraud and

identity theft have reached almost 100 million dollars.

According to the New York Times, the SBA's fraud hotline has received 42,000 reports about coronavirus related

cheating and misuse. Last year, by comparison, it had less than 800.

To date, the Department of Justice has charged more than 40 cases of PPP-related schemes,

from claiming non-existent employees or non-existent businesses to identity theft, kickback schemes,

fake tax documents, and multi-state fraud rings.

Most of these cases have alleged fraud of more than a million dollars.

But what about the countless others that may be cheating the government out of smaller but not insignificant sums.

How does the government decide who should get money and who shouldn't among millions of applications

from businesses of all industries and sizes? And what role do the banks play?

How does the program then distribute that money quickly

and accurately, or not in many cases?

And what are the tools at our disposal

...