Ohio congressman alleges COVID-19 relief funds were stolen by and for US adversaries

In response to an enforcement action taken by the Justice Department, the leader of a GOP-led House panel on the pandemic alleges money from the federal COVID-19 relief fund was stolen by and for international criminal organizations and foreign actors.

“Some of these fraudulent actors were based outside the United States and may involve international criminal organizations," Ohio Rep. Brad Wenstrup, chairman of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, said Tuesday in a letter.

Wenstrup also wrote that estimates appear to show that at least half of all stolen COVID-19 relief funds went to Russian, Chinese and Nigerian "criminals."

The Biden administration has allocated $1.6 billion to recover stolen relief money and prosecute those involved in fraud, according to NBC News.

Wenstrup's letter follows a federal fraud enforcement action taken last week to investigate and prosecute those involved in the fraud. 

“The Justice Department has now seized over $1.4 billion in COVID-19 relief funds that criminals had stolen and charged over 3,000 defendants with crimes in federal districts across the country,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland.

Last week, the Justice Department described the enforcement action as “a coordinated, nationwide enforcement action to combat COVID-19 fraud, which included 718 enforcement actions – including federal criminal charges against 371 defendants – for offenses related to over $836 million in alleged COVID-19 fraud."

Wenstrup demanded in his letter specific documents and communications related to the investigation into international COVID-19 relief fraud.

"Further, we also request a staff briefing to discuss the Department’s civil and criminal actions to date in response to reports of fraud, waste, and abuse of coronavirus pandemic relief funds by overseas or international actors and criminal organizations," the letter reads. 

"The Select Subcommittee is authorized to investigate the efficiency, effectiveness, and transparency of the use of taxpayer funds and relief programs to address the coronavirus pandemic, including any reports of waste, fraud, or abuse and executive branch policies, deliberations, decisions, activities, and internal and external communications related to the coronavirus pandemic," it continued.