US Secret Service’s Roy Dotson Tapped as National Pandemic Fraud Recovery Coordinator

The U.S. Secret Service has appointed Roy Dotson, assistant special agent in charge of the Jacksonville field office, as the National Pandemic Fraud Recovery coordinator.

In this capacity, Dotson will coordinate efforts across multiple Secret Service investigations into COVID-19 relief fraud, such as those associated with personal protective equipment and misuse of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act. He will also work with financial institutions and money service businesses, U.S. attorney offices and other federal agencies to know more about illicitly obtained pandemic relief funds. Some of the programs that he will look into are the Small Business Administration loan and grant programs and unemployment insurance initiatives, Homeland Security Today reported.

Dotson will also lead cryptocurrency investigations. Specifically, he will look into the use of unsuspecting victims to move stolen funds from one account to another. Dotson shared that some of the ways that victims become money mules are through online romance scams, fake job opportunities and other plots that would supposedly help unsuspecting individuals in exchange for financial favors.

The Secret Service is partnering with government agencies across all levels, foreign law enforcement bodies, academic institutions and private sector partners to investigate ongoing coronavirus-related illicit activities. To date, Secret Service has seized over $1.2 billion and returned $2.3 billion from fraudulent UI and SBA loan scams. The agency has also arrested 100 individuals who are involved with the aforementioned plots. Overall, COVID-19-related fraudulent activities have reached almost $100 billion.