Relief Funds Drive ‘Cornucopia’ of Fraud, Top IRS Official Says

Criminal investigators at the IRS are seeing a “cornucopia of fraud” as the pandemic drags on and trillions of dollars in aid flows out of the federal government, a top official said.

Much of the uptick in identify theft and other fraudulent activity stems from stimulus checks sent to individuals and small business loans issued under the Paycheck Protection Program, IRS Criminal Investigation Chief Don Fort said Tuesday.

“Even if that percentage of fraud is 1%, the numbers are still staggering in terms of what we’re up against,” he said.

Fort’s comments, made during a virtual anti-money laundering conference, come ...