The Great Grift: 5 things to know about how COVID-19 relief aid was stolen or wasted

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June 12th, 2023

FILE - A sheet of uncut $100 bills is inspected during the printing process at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing Western Currency Facility in Fort Worth, Texas, on Sept. 24, 2013. An Associated Press analysis published on Monday, June 12, 2023, found that fraudsters potentially stole more than $280 billion in COVID-19 relief funding; another $123 billion was wasted or misspent. Combined, the loss represents a jarring 10 percent of the total $4.2 trillion the U.S. government has so far disbursed in COVID-relief aid. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)

The greatest grift in U.S. history was brazen, even simple. Criminals and gangs grabbed the money. So did an U.S. soldier in Georgia, the pastors of a defunct church in Texas, a former state lawmaker in Missouri and a roofing contractor in Montana.

Over the last three years, thieves plundered billions of dollars in federal COVID-19 relief aid intended to combat the worst pandemic in a century and to stabilize an economy in free fall.

Here are some key takeaways from an Associated Press analysis of what may have been stolen or wasted.HOW MUCH WAS STOLEN?

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