Bean Announces Unanimous House Passage of Legislation Strengthening SBA Pandemic Fraud Investigations

WASHINGTON—Today, U.S. Congressman Aaron Bean (FL-04) announced unanimous House passage of the PPP/EIDL Fraud Report Act of 2023 otherwise known as the We Want Our Money Back Act. This bipartisan bill requires the Inspector General of the SBA to report to Congress with quarterly updates on the ongoing Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) fraud investigations.

Congressman Bean introduced this anti-fraud legislation with U.S. Congressman Kweisi Mfume (MD-07) after the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) discovered $200 billion in potentially fraudulent COVID-19 EIDLs and PPP loans.

“This is a major first step towards restoring the $200 billon stolen from American taxpayers under the watch of the Small Business Administration. I am pleased the House voted unanimously to hold the SBA accountable and strengthen pandemic fraud investigations,” said Congressman Bean. “This vital legislation will ensure Congress can track the extent of the fraud and the progress in resolving the thousands of investigative leads of alleged fraud, waste, and abuse of taxpayer resources. I encourage my colleagues in the Senate to quickly pass this critical legislation.”

“I am pleased to co-lead this bill with Congressman Aaron Bean, my colleague from Florida, to ensure Congress receives consistent reporting towards our goal of returning billions in stolen pandemic funds to the federal government and bringing white-collar criminals to justice,” said Congressman Mfume.

Watch Congressman Bean’s House floor remarks on the bill HERE.

BACKGROUND:

A recent report from the OIG, found that of the more than 250,000 OIG Hotline complaints since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 90,000 are possible cases of fraud. This represents 100 years of investigative case work.

Read the full report HERE.

Read the full bill text HERE.

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