Moylan noted the majority of unemployment fraud during COVID stemmed from “loopholes” so big “you could drive a truck through” them in the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program.

House lawmakers are calling on their Senate colleagues to follow their lead and pass a bill extending the statute of limitations for prosecuting pandemic-era unemployment fraud.

Federal law enforcement’s hands are tied now that the statute of limitations for prosecuting fraud in COVID-era unemployment programs has expired.

While Congress extended the statute of limitations for pandemic-era business relief fraud in 2022, the window to prosecute fraud in individual relief programs closed Thursday.

“There’s huge amounts of fraud that law enforcement officials are still trying to track down,” said Andrew Moylan, a public finance policy expert at the for-profit philanthropy group Arnold Ventures.

“Every day that goes by from today, we lose the ability to prosecute fraud day by day. That’s a huge problem, and this should be something that’s an easy fix for Congress.”Despite opposition from 127 House Democrats, including Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the House passed a bipartisan bill earlier this month to extend the statute of limitations for pandemic unemployment fraud from five to 10 years. The move mirrored what lawmakers did for the Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury and Disaster Loans program in 2022.

However, the Senate has yet to take up a companion bill needed to cement the extension, leading House lawmakers to call on their colleagues on Capitol Hill to make it a priority.

“We can’t afford to let these fraudsters get away with the largest heist of tax dollars in American history,” Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee, said Wednesday. “Not only do we have an obligation to taxpayers to recover as much of this money as possible — up to $135 billion — we also need to send a message that we will never falter in going after criminals who take advantage of our support for those in need. … There is no time to waste.”

‘DOGE’ SENATOR SEEKS TO ENSURE FEDS CAN CONTINUE PURSUING COVID FRAUDSTERS, DEBTORS, AS IG SOUNDS ALARM

According to estimates from the Government Accountability Office, as much as $135 billion in pandemic unemployment insurance programs was lost to fraud during the pandemic. So far, only $5 billion, or less than 4%, has been recovered. Between the Department of Justice and the Department of Labor, there are more than 2,500 uncharged criminal matters or ongoing field investigations related to COVID-era criminal unemployment fraud, according to a fact sheet released by Smith.

Unless the statute of limitations is extended by Congress, federal law enforcement will be unable to prosecute these cases.

Moylan noted the majority of unemployment fraud during COVID stemmed from “loopholes” so big “you could drive a truck through” them in the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program.