The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia prosecuted 50 people in 2022 for COVID-19 relief fund frauds. The Richmond Tines-Dispatch reports the suspects tried to swindle the government and associated financial institutions out of nearly $125 million. Prosecutors say the most egregious case involved a man who defrauded the federal Paycheck Protection Program out of $43 million. In 2021 the office prosecuted 30 people who attempted to steal $105 million in pandemic aid.