A $1 Billion Bonanza for Phantom Companies

摘要

A federal program meant to help small businesses hurt by the coronavirus pandemic may have sent more than $1 billion to places it shouldn't have gone, according to a Bloomberg BusinessWeek analysis of Small Business Administration data. In some parts of the country the SBA approved far more $10,000 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) grants than the number of eligible businesses, the analysis found. The epicenter was six adjacent congressional districts in the Chicago area, where 81,000 grants were approved even though there are only 19,000 eligible recipients. That's more than $600 million going to phantom entrepreneurs. The SBA declined to comment on the discrepancies, saying in a statement it had "stringent fraud-protection safeguards" and noting that it had been under pressure to move the money quickly.