Washington, DC — Today, Michael E. Horowitz, Chair of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC), announced the release of the PRAC’s Semiannual Report to Congress, which covers the period from April 1, 2023, through September 30, 2023.
“The PRAC has created a blueprint for conducting effective oversight of this extraordinary amount of emergency relief spending by coordinating with our oversight partners at all levels of government and leveraging data analytics to better prevent and detect fraud,” said Chair Horowitz. “This model should be retained, replicated, and broadened to bolster oversight of future emergency and non-emergency federal expenditures.”
The report summarizes the PRAC’s work during the second half of Fiscal Year 2023 and updates Congress on its efforts to promote transparency and ensure coordinated oversight of more than $5 trillion in pandemic relief. It also describes how the Pandemic Analytics Center of Excellence (PACE), the PRAC’s advanced data analytics platform, demonstrates the value of conducting cross-program, cross-agency data analysis to strengthen federal program integrity.
Key PRAC accomplishments achieved during this reporting period, as aligned with the PRAC’s mission and vision, include:
- The addition of over 500 new web pages to promote transparency of all pandemic programs;
- The issuance of a report on pandemic funding to local communities, in coordination with 10 Offices of Inspectors General (OIGs);
- The charges, against 14 individuals, in an alleged $53 million pandemic fraud scheme; and
- The release of a congressionally mandated report on the federal acquisition and grants workforces during the pandemic.
Additional highlights from the reporting period include:
- The innovative, collaborative efforts of the PACE that supported over 630 investigations into 7,600 subjects, with an estimated potential fraud loss of $1.77 billion to date;
- The 109 pandemic oversight reports issued by 23 OIGs that identified over $13.2 billion in monetary findings and contain 272 recommendations to improve the government's response to the pandemic and future emergencies; and
- The critical pandemic-related fraud investigations of 22 OIGs resulting in 897 arrests/indictments and 457 convictions.
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The PRAC was established by the CARES Act to promote transparency and support independent oversight of the funds provided by the CARES Act and other related emergency spending bills. In addition to its coordination and oversight responsibilities, the PRAC is tasked with supporting efforts to “prevent and detect fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement [and] mitigate major risks that cut across program and agency boundaries.”
If you have additional questions, please contact Lisa Reijula at lisa.reijula@cigie.gov