Rep. Davids works to help fraud victims in Johnson County

Rep. Sharice Davids at a House Small Business Committee hearing on Tuesday asked government oversight officials to address issues of fraud and identity theft in small business loan programs in order to help victims of fraud in Johnson County.

A Shawnee Mission Post investigation found that at least 35 Johnson County residents have been the victim of fraudulent loans through the Emergency Injury Disaster Loan program. The total claims exceeded $940,000. Numerous cases of identity fraud have been reported through the program, which was expanded to provide relief to small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. A Small Business Administration investigation found that about $1.1 billion in fraudulent loans have been distributed to potentially ineligible entities.

"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," Davids said. "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 Small Business Administration Acting Administrator to prevent and prosecute allegations of identity theft and fraud risk associated with the administration's relief programs.