Reports

A man who urged investors to “profit off” the COVID-19 pandemic has been charged with commodities fraud.

Fort Myers, Florida – United States Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez announces the return of an indictment charging Casey David Crowther (35, North Fort Myers) with one count of bank fraud, one count of making a false statement to a lending institution, and two counts of illegal monetary transactions. If convicted, Crowther faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison for the bank fraud count and the false statement count and up to 10 years in federal prison for each illegal monetary transaction count. The indictment also notifies Crowther that the United States intends to forfeit a 2020 40...

The primary objective of this report is to show Missouri's spending of federal assistance in the month of July 2020 for the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) emergency and the cumulative financial activity since the state began receiving funding in April 2020.

The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has initiated a review of the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ (BOP) use of home confinement as a tool to mitigate the effect of the Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic on the federal prison population.  The review will assess the BOP’s process for implementing the use of home confinement as authorized under the CARES Act, the process for its consideration of the eligibility criteria outlined in the Attorney General’s March 26 and April 3, 2020 memoranda, and the process by which BOP headquarters evaluated wardens’ recommendations that inmates who did not meet the Attorney General’s criteria be placed in home confinement.  The review will also select particular cases for examination to determine whether there were irregularities in the BOP’s processes.  If circumstances warrant, the OIG will consider including other issues that may arise during the course of the review.  The OIG is undertaking this review in response to requests from Members of Congress, and issues the OIG identified during the series of remote inspections it has conducted regarding the BOP’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

PROVIDENCE – A Middletown, RI, man currently on federal supervised release having been previously sentenced for robbing four banks, is facing charges in federal court in Providence for allegedly filing fraudulent loan applications seeking more than $4.7 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) forgivable loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The CARES Act was passed by Congress to assist businesses impacted by the pandemic.

As part of the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) effort to provide oversight of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) relief efforts provided by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), we reviewed HUD’s responses to inquiries regarding forbearance and foreclosure relief. The objective of our review was to evaluate the accuracy of HUD’s responses to inquiries from borrowers, industry partners, and the general public regarding forbearance and foreclosure relief provided by the CARES Act. We found that HUD could improve its customer service to...

HHS may take a variety of actions in response to an emerging infectious disease, including, but not limited to, actions related to resources, supplies, and treatments needed to address COVID-19. This study will examine actions taken by HHS, including the Office of Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, to protect public health in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.