Davids Continues Work to help Johnson County Fraud Victims During Small Business Hearing

Press Release

At a House Small Business Committee hearing today Representative Sharice Davids asked government oversight officials to address issues of fraud and identity theft in small business loan programs to help victims of fraud in Johnson County.

Numerous cases of identity fraud have been reported in the Emergency Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program, which was expanded by Congress to provide relief to small businesses during the pandemic. A Small Business Administration investigation found that approximately $1.1 billion in fraudulent loans have been distributed to potentially ineligible entities. The Shawnee Mission Post reported earlier this year that at least 35 Johnson County residents have been the victim of fraudulent EIDL loans using identity theft, the total claims of which exceeded $940,000.

"Small Business Administration loan programs have been absolutely essential lifelines during the pandemic and there's still much more we need to do to support our small businesses recover from the economic crisis," said Davids. "Part of that support has to include ensuring the integrity of these programs and preventing further fraud and abuse from wasting taxpayer dollars. Every dollar wasted by fraud is a dollar that could have gone to a struggling business. I continue to urge the SBA to ensure that the victims of identity theft through the EIDL program, like those in my district in Johnson County, Kansas, are held blameless."

Davids had previously urged the SBA Acting Administrator to implement recommendations from government oversight officials to prevent and prosecute allegations of identity theft and fraud risk associated with SBA's COVID-19 relief programs

You can watch Davids questioning oversight officials here.

Davids' office continues their commitment to assisting constituents who have experienced issues with fraudulent loans and encourage them to call her district office at (913) 621-0832 if they need assistance reporting these claims.

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