SMART OR LUCKY? ..... EITHER WAY, IT IS STILL $1 BILLION

By Bob Walsh

 

 

                                   

Prosecutors said Mustafa Qadiri, 38, of Irvine, Calif., used money from the Paycheck Protection Program to buy three cars that cost six figures apiece, including this 2011 Ferrari 458 Italia.

 

 

The formerly great state of California has managed to claw back about $1.1 billion in the massive fraudulent expenditures for Covid relief programs.  

This money was recovered from about 780,000 dormant benefit cards.  

Most of these fraudulent claims were paid out by the EDD via the Pandemic Assistance Program.  It is generally estimated the state paid out about $20 billion in bogus claims.   There have been almost 500 arrests and over 150 convictions related to this program.