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Michael E. Horowitz, Chair of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC), issued the following statement after two men pleaded guilty to defrauding the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program of nearly $109 million by submitting thousands of fraudulent loan applications, which the PRAC’s data scientists helped investigators identify using the PRAC’s analytics platform: “This case is another example of the impactful work the PRAC is doing on behalf of taxpayers—we use leading-edge analytic tools to untangle the electronic trail that fraudsters leave behind...

Over the past five years, the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) and its data analytics center have demonstrated the ability to prevent fraud and improper payments, and to assist law enforcement in pursuing billions of dollars in fraud. We have alerted agency leadership to potential risks and emerging fraud schemes, investigated thousands of pandemic fraud-related cases, and used data to identify potential fraud and other forms of improper payments more quickly. If the PRAC’s data analytics center had been in place in March 2020 at the outset of the pandemic, we would have been...

Washington, DC — Kenneth Dieffenbach, Executive Director of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC), testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Government Operations Subcommittee, on Tuesday, March 11, 2025, at a hearing titled, “ Shifting Gears: Moving from Recovery to Prevention of Improper Payments and Fraud.” In his testimony, Executive Director Dieffenbach described how the PRAC has used data analytics to prevent improper payments and fraud, and urged Congress to sustain its capabilities past the PRAC’s scheduled sunset...

Washington, DC — Today, Michael E. Horowitz, Chair of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC), announced the release of the PRAC’s Semiannual Report to Congress, which covers the period April 1 through September 30, 2024. “With nine months remaining until our sunset, we encourage Congress to retain the valuable fraud-fighting tools of our data analytics center and expand its jurisdiction beyond pandemic relief funds. Without this vital resource, the federal government will no longer have an entity capable of proactively conducting cross-program, cross-agency analysis to help...

Washington, DC — Michael E. Horowitz, Chair of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC), testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Accountability, Government Operations and the Federal Workforce Subcommittee, on Tuesday, September 10, 2024, at a hearing titled, “ Where Do We Go From Here? Examining a Path Forward to Assess Agencies’ Efforts to Prevent Improper Payments and Fraud.” In his testimony, Chair Horowitz described how the  Pandemic Analytics Center of Excellence (PACE) has prevented improper payments and fraud, and urged Congress to act...

Washington, DC — Today, Michael E. Horowitz, Chair of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC), announced the release of the PRAC’s Semiannual Report to Congress, which covers the period from October 1, 2023, through March 31, 2024. “After four years since the onset of the pandemic and the PRAC’s creation, our mission to promote transparency and coordinate oversight of the federal government’s COVID-19 response remains more critical than ever. With 15 months remaining until our sunset, we submit this Semiannual Report to Congress at a crucial time in our lifespan, and we bring...