In Part I of our series, we analyzed the spending features of the COVID-19 stimulus packages and introduced the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) as the closest historical analogue to them. In Part II, we discussed TARP in greater detail and highlighted the various ways fraudsters exploited it. Part III examined coordination among various federal agencies and the prosecutions that coordination produced as foreshadowing of what we expect will occur with respect to the COVID-19 stimulus programs. In this final installment, we will look at the CARES Act’s oversight provisions and the ways in which government agencies will likely collaborate to investigate and prosecute those who attempt to take advantage of the act’s funding provisions.

Introduction

As discussed in the last installment, government oversight of the TARP program provides valuable lessons. The Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) has, for more than 10 years, investigated criminal conduct in connection with TARP. Section 121 of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (EESA) established the office as a law enforcement office, granting it the power to search, seize and arrest. Since its establishment in 2008, SIGTARP has coordinated—and continues to coordinate—with the Department of Justice (DOJ), Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), Securities Exchange Commission  (SEC), Internal Revenue Service, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, Small Business Administration (SBA) and other federal and state investigative agencies to investigate criminal conduct in conjunction with TARP. Thus, SIGTARP leverages preexisting law enforcement resources to build a robust oversight structure.

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