GSA uncovers $1.2B in suspected COVID contracting fraud across five federal contracts

The US General Services Administration says it identified over $1.2B in suspected COVID-related contracting fraud and halted $41M in further payments. Payments to contractors have been suspended pending review.

GSA flags $1.2 billion in suspected COVID contract fraud, suspends payments

The US General Services Administration has identified more than $1.2 billion in suspected fraud tied to COVID-related contracts and blocked a further $41 million in payments, according to a press release issued Wednesday. Nextgov/FCW reports the findings span five contracts and were developed in collaboration with the Department of Health and Human Services, under the direction of the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud.

GSA noted that the COVID-19 national emergency and associated acquisition flexibilities were formally cancelled in 2023, yet unnamed federal contractors continued to receive funding linked to those emergency-era agreements. The agency has since suspended payments to the contractors involved, though no criminal charges have been filed against any of them.

Approximately 93% of the flagged contract funding — originally intended for COVID vaccines and other pandemic services — had not yet been disbursed to vendors at the time of the announcement, while roughly 6.78% had already been expended, according to a Fox News exclusive attached to the GSA release.

GSA Administrator Edward Forst stated in the release: "The COVID emergency ended over three years ago, yet fraudsters continue to weaponize outdated emergency contracts to abuse taxpayer dollars. GSA will continue to work with the Vice President's task force to stop improper payments, refer suspected fraud to law enforcement, and fight to recover every dollar."

Scott Brady, executive director of the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, drew a distinction between legitimate pandemic contractors and those exploiting residual emergency frameworks: "We're not after the honest contractors who did real pandemic work — we're after the leftover contracts hiding behind a crisis that no longer exists. The emergency is over. So is the free pass."

The COVID-related announcement follows a separate GSA disclosure roughly one month earlier, in which the agency said it had identified $13 billion in suspected procurement-related fraud since March 2026. At that time, an expert speaking to Nextgov/FCW described the procurement-fraud figures as a "trust but verify situation," cautioning that suspicions of fraud differ from formal legal adjudications.

The administration's broader fraud.gov ledger puts total suspected fraud uncovered since January 2025 at approximately $260.7 billion, including $96.4 billion attributed to HHS and $13.9 billion to GSA. GSA has said its ongoing review covers COVID-19 spending, Small Business Administration programme expenditure, contractor eligibility, bid rigging, cybersecurity false claims, bribery, and other contractor-integrity risks.

Source: Google News MT — Crime (en)