On February 3, 2021, the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) issued an update to its Top Challenges in Pandemic Relief and Response, identifying new challenges in funding oversight and reiterating others identified in its original report issued in June 2020. The updated report, based on feedback received from Offices of Inspectors General (OIG) at more than 40 agencies, identifies four new challenges focused on ferreting out fraud related to pandemic funding and the health and safety of federal employees: (1) preventing and detecting fraud against government programs; (2) informing and protecting the public from pandemic-related fraud; (3) data transparency and completeness; and (4) federal workplace safety. The PRAC also identifies contributory risk factors within each new challenge and makes recommendations for agencies to conduct additional oversight. This PRAC update, along with a recently-issued quarterly report from the Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery (SIGPR), confirm the rising tide of civil enforcement activity with respect to pandemic relief funds and the attendant risks to recipients and entities involved in administering such funds, particularly in light of the punitive damages provided for by the government’s most powerful civil fraud enforcement tool, the False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. § 3729.
Continue Reading February Reports from PRAC and SIGPR Confirm Government’s Focus on Pandemic Funding Oversight and Enforcement Challenges