Recovering Fraudulent Claims Act
Bill: S.2742 | Sponsor: Sen. Thune, John (R-SD)
Policy area: Labor and Employment

Summary:
Recovering Fraudulent Claims Act
This bill requires the Department of Justice to establish the COVID-19 Unemployment Insurance Fraud Task Force. The task force must investigate fraud related to COVID-19 unemployment insurance benefits, including fraud involving identity theft.   The Government Accountability Office must study COVID-19 unemployment insurance fraud, including whether available funds are being utilized or underutilized by states to prevent fraud and recover fraudulent payments.

To establish the COVID-19 Unemployment Insurance Fraud Task Force, and 
                          for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Recovering Fraudulent Claims Act''.

SEC. 2. COVID-19 UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE FRAUD TASK FORCE.

    (a) In General.--
            (1) Establishment.--Not later than 60 days after the date 
        of enactment of this section, the Attorney General, in 
        consultation with the Secretary, shall establish the COVID-19 
        Unemployment Insurance Fraud Task Force (in this section 
        referred to as the ``Task Force'').
            (2) Duties.--
                    (A) Investigation.--The Task Force shall 
                investigate fraud with respect to COVID-19 unemployment 
                insurance benefits, including an identification of and 
                investigation into--
                            (i) subject to paragraph (3), any alleged 
                        instance of fraudulent payment of COVID-19 
                        unemployment insurance benefits to any 
                        individual, entity, or organization (either 
                        foreign or domestic) that was not eligible to 
                        receive such benefits; and
                            (ii) any alleged instance in which an 
                        individual, entity, or organization (either 
                        foreign or domestic) stole or attempted to 
                        steal the identity or personally identifiable 
                        information of any United States citizen in an 
                        effort to obtain COVID-19 unemployment 
                        insurance benefits, including any instance of 
                        synthetic identity theft.
                    (B) Submission of findings to attorney general.--
                The Task Force shall submit to the Attorney General the 
                Task Force's findings with respect to the investigation 
                conducted under subparagraph (A) to assist the Attorney 
                General in the prosecution of fraud concerning COVID-19 
                unemployment insurance benefits.
            (3) Clarification.--The investigation conducted under 
        paragraph (2)(A) shall not include an identification of or 
        investigation into any improper payment of COVID-19 
        unemployment insurance benefits to any individual that was 
        eligible to receive such benefits.
    (b) Membership.--
            (1) In general.--The Attorney General, in consultation with 
        the Secretary, shall appoint to the Task Force a representative 
        from each of the following:
                    (A) The Office of the Inspector General of the 
                Department of Labor.
                    (B) The Federal Bureau of Investigation.
                    (C) The Department of Homeland Security.
                    (D) The Internal Revenue Service.
                    (E) The United States Postal Service.
                    (F) The Office of the Inspector General of the 
                Social Security Administration.
                    (G) The Office of the Inspector General of the 
                Department of Homeland Security.
                    (H) A nonprofit organization representing State 
                workforce agencies.
                    (I) A national law enforcement organization.
                    (J) Any other organization the Attorney General, in 
                consultation with the Secretary, determines to be 
                appropriate.
            (2) Prohibition on compensation.--The members of the Task 
        Force shall not receive any compensation from the Federal 
        Government by reason of their service on the Task Force.
    (c) Report to Congress.--
            (1) Preliminary report.--Subject to paragraph (3), not 
        later than 1 year after the date on which the Task Force is 
        established under subsection (a)(1), the Task Force shall 
        submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report that 
        contains a detailed description of the following:
                    (A) The Task Force's findings with respect to the 
                investigation conducted under subsection (a)(2)(A), 
                including the following:
                            (i) The total number of individuals and an 
                        itemized list of entities and organizations 
                        (either foreign or domestic) that were 
                        identified by the Task Force as having 
                        allegedly obtained or attempted to obtain 
                        fraudulent payments of COVID-19 unemployment 
                        insurance benefits, including the amount of 
                        such benefits that were identified by the Task 
                        Force as having been obtained.
                            (ii) The total number of individuals and an 
                        itemized list of entities and organizations 
                        (either foreign or domestic) that were 
                        identified by the Task Force as having 
                        allegedly stolen or attempted to steal the 
                        identity or personally identifiable information 
                        of any United States citizen in an effort to 
                        obtain COVID-19 unemployment insurance 
                        benefits, including any instance of synthetic 
                        identity theft.
                            (iii) The total number of individuals and 
                        an itemized list of entities and organizations 
                        (either foreign or domestic) that were 
                        identified by the Attorney General during the 
                        period beginning on the date of enactment of 
                        the CARES Act (Public Law 116-136) and ending 
                        on the date of the establishment of the Task 
                        Force under subsection (a)(1) as having 
                        allegedly obtained or attempted to obtain 
                        fraudulent payments of COVID-19 unemployment 
                        insurance benefits.
                            (iv) The total number of individuals and an 
                        itemized list of entities and organizations 
                        (either foreign or domestic) that were 
                        identified by the Attorney General during the 
                        period beginning on the date of enactment of 
                        the CARES Act (Public Law 116-136) and ending 
                        on the date of the establishment of the Task 
                        Force under subsection (a)(1) as having 
                        allegedly stolen or attempted to steal the 
                        identity or personally identifiable information 
                        of any United States citizen in an effort to 
                        obtain COVID-19 unemployment insurance 
                        benefits, including any instance of synthetic 
                        identity theft.
                            (v) The total number of individuals the 
                        Attorney General has prosecuted for fraud 
                        concerning COVID-19 unemployment insurance 
                        benefits, including a list of the criminal 
                        charges brought and any prison sentences or 
                        accompanying fines imposed.
                    (B) The steps the Attorney General or the head of 
                any other relevant Federal or State agency is taking, 
                or is planning to take, to prosecute or otherwise 
                penalize the individuals, entities, or organizations 
                described in subparagraph (A).
                    (C) Any challenge or impediment the Attorney 
                General or the head of any other relevant Federal or 
                State agency has encountered in prosecuting or 
                otherwise penalizing such individuals, entities, or 
                organizations.
                    (D) The efforts the Attorney General or the head of 
                any other relevant Federal or State agency is taking, 
                or is planning to take, to recover any fraudulent 
                payment of COVID-19 unemployment insurance benefits, 
                and the challenges associated with such efforts.
                    (E) The total amount of fraudulent COVID-19 
                unemployment insurance benefits that were issued by 
                States, including a State-by-State breakdown of such 
                amount.
                    (F) The total amount of fraudulent COVID-19 
                unemployment insurance benefits that the Attorney 
                General or the head of any other relevant Federal or 
                State agency has been able to recover.
                    (G) The specific challenges the Task Force 
                encountered in carrying out subsection (a)(2)(A).
            (2) Final report.--Subject to paragraph (3), not later than 
        1 year after the submission of the report under paragraph (1), 
        the Task Force shall submit to the appropriate Committees of 
        Congress a final report that includes updated information 
        regarding subparagraphs (A) through (G) of paragraph (1).
            (3) Disclosure of return information.--No return 
        information (as defined in section 6103(b) of the Internal 
        Revenue Code of 1986) may be included in a report submitted 
        under paragraph (1) or (2), except as authorized by such 
        section 6103.
    (d) Sunset.--The Task Force shall terminate on the later of--
            (1) the date on which the Task Force submits the final 
        report under subsection (c)(2); or
            (2) a specific date selected by the Attorney General, in 
        consultation with the Secretary, that falls after the date set 
        forth in paragraph (1).
    (e) Definitions.--
            (1) Appropriate committees of congress.--The term 
        ``appropriate committees of Congress'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Finance of the Senate;
                    (B) the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate;
                    (C) the Committee on Homeland Security and 
                Governmental Affairs of the Senate;
                    (D) the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of 
                Representatives;
                    (E) the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 
                Representatives; and
                    (F) the Committee on Homeland Security of the House 
                of Representatives.
            (2) COVID-19 unemployment insurance benefits.--The term 
        ``COVID-19 unemployment insurance benefits'' means unemployment 
        insurance benefits provided under any of the programs under 
        section 2102, 2104, or 2107 of the CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 9021, 
        9023, 9025).
            (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Labor.
            (4) Synthetic identity theft.--The term ``synthetic 
        identity theft'' means the use of a combination of personally 
        identifiable information to fabricate an individual or entity 
        in order to commit a dishonest act for personal or financial 
        gain.

SEC. 3. GAO STUDY AND REPORT.

    (a) Study.--The Comptroller General of the United States (in this 
section referred to as the ``Comptroller General'') shall conduct a 
study on unemployment insurance fraud with respect to COVID-19 
unemployment insurance benefits (as defined in section 2(e)). Such 
study shall include an analysis of--
            (1) how the amounts appropriated under section 2118 of the 
        CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 9034), as added by section 9032 of the 
        American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2), are being 
        utilized by States to--
                    (A) detect and prevent fraud in any such program; 
                and
                    (B) recover any fraudulent payment of COVID-19 
                unemployment insurance benefits;
            (2) any reason that such appropriated amounts were not used 
        by States to detect and prevent such fraud and to recover such 
        fraudulent payments;
            (3) whether such appropriated amounts were successful in 
        helping States to detect and prevent such fraud and to recover 
        such fraudulent payments; and
            (4) any other area determined appropriate by the 
        Comptroller General.
    (b) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 
this section, the Comptroller General shall submit to Congress a report 
containing the results of the study conducted under subsection (a), 
together with recommendations for such legislation and administrative 
action as the Comptroller General determines appropriate.
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