Most of us have gotten phone calls about money owed to various governmental entities threatening arrest without immediate action…...
Today was my monthly “Boomer Breakfast” with retired guys I worked with. One started his story with the above sentence. He got a letter last July stating he owed the government $150,000 repayment on his Small Business loan he received during COVID. If he didn’t start repaying, interest would start to accrue. He about pitched it into the trash because he didn’t take out any loan. However, he decided to do a bit of research as there was a phone number included. Sure enough, he was on the hook for the loan. After explanations, he was given several forms to fill out and return. Not hearing anything, decided to call Senator Grassley’s office. They told him he would get a response and did the next day. He then contacted the SBA office in Cedar Rapids. They were most helpful (additional forms, of course). Finally, got to the point where it could get it cancelled, but he had to file another form with the Iowa Secretary of State Office. (I suppose to prove his “business” didn’t exist.) He called them and they were helpful, and the person knew exactly what needed to be done. How? His mother had the exact issue! The person in the CR office had three other instances sitting on his desk of the same thing! After filing with the state (cost him $20), he finally got confirmation. At the end, he got a pile of paper showing his “journey” with listings of all his letters, phone calls, the calls/contacts made within/between the different governmental agencies.
Also, he got a heavily redacted file listing information on who took out the loan. Gave the person’s name, phone number, bank accounts where the money was to be deposited: $30,000 to an account in China, $10,000 to a bank in Indiana. The name of the bogus business was my friend’s name: Joe Blow Farms using his home address, he lives in town. Of course, he doesn’t farm.
The amount of fraud and unrecovered funds in these programs must be staggering! No indication “they” were attempting to go after the real perps.
Today was my monthly “Boomer Breakfast” with retired guys I worked with. One started his story with the above sentence. He got a letter last July stating he owed the government $150,000 repayment on his Small Business loan he received during COVID. If he didn’t start repaying, interest would start to accrue. He about pitched it into the trash because he didn’t take out any loan. However, he decided to do a bit of research as there was a phone number included. Sure enough, he was on the hook for the loan. After explanations, he was given several forms to fill out and return. Not hearing anything, decided to call Senator Grassley’s office. They told him he would get a response and did the next day. He then contacted the SBA office in Cedar Rapids. They were most helpful (additional forms, of course). Finally, got to the point where it could get it cancelled, but he had to file another form with the Iowa Secretary of State Office. (I suppose to prove his “business” didn’t exist.) He called them and they were helpful, and the person knew exactly what needed to be done. How? His mother had the exact issue! The person in the CR office had three other instances sitting on his desk of the same thing! After filing with the state (cost him $20), he finally got confirmation. At the end, he got a pile of paper showing his “journey” with listings of all his letters, phone calls, the calls/contacts made within/between the different governmental agencies.
Also, he got a heavily redacted file listing information on who took out the loan. Gave the person’s name, phone number, bank accounts where the money was to be deposited: $30,000 to an account in China, $10,000 to a bank in Indiana. The name of the bogus business was my friend’s name: Joe Blow Farms using his home address, he lives in town. Of course, he doesn’t farm.
The amount of fraud and unrecovered funds in these programs must be staggering! No indication “they” were attempting to go after the real perps.
