Coronavirus Watch: DOJ charges 47 people in $250M COVID relief fraud case
The Department of Justice on Tuesday charged 47 people in Minnesota accused of siphoning $250 million from a coronavirus pandemic relief program designed to provide meals for children.
Prosecutors described "a brazen scheme of staggering proportions" that exploited a federally funded program to serve needy children in Minnesota during the pandemic.
The suspects reportedly used a local nonprofit known as "Feeding Our Future" as a cover to claim reimbursements for meals never provided and allegedly used the federal money to buy luxury cars, houses, jewelry and resort property abroad.
Read more from reporter Kevin Johnson here.
It's Thursday, and this is Coronavirus Watch from the Paste BN Network. Here's more news to know:
- Washington state employees may receive $1,000 bonuses for getting a COVID-19 booster shot under a tentative deal between the state and the Washington Federation of State Employees.
- Nursing home staff shortages contributed to neglect and deficient care during the pandemic, according to results of a congressional probe into the owners of 850 for-profit nursing homes.
- Queen Margrethe II of Denmark tested positive for COVID-19 just one day after attending the funeral of Britain's Queen Elizabeth.
See our COVID-19 resource guide here. See total reported cases and deaths here. On vaccinations: About 79% of people in the U.S. have received at least one vaccine shot, and about 67% are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.
– Cady Stanton, Paste BN breaking news reporter, @cady_stanton