Title: ‘The more you submit, the more we get paid’: How fintech fueled covid aid fraud

URL Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/12/01/fintech-covid-relief-fraud/

Published Time: 2022-12-01T15:59:45.870Z

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# ‘The more you submit, the more we get paid’: How fintech fueled covid aid fraud

Little-known firms such as Blueacorn and Womply allegedly collected taxpayer-funded fees as they overlooked signs of grift, according to a report released Thursday by congressional investigators

Updated December 1, 2022 More than**3 years ago**

14 min

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Storm clouds over the U.S. Capitol dome on July 12, 2022. A House subcommittee on Thursday released a report on how fintech companies processed Paycheck Protection Program loans early in the coronavirus pandemic. (Tom Brenner/For the Washington Post)

![Image 2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=https://s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/washpost/f28d76e6-81cf-46e7-a619-e3f2b2d7a600.png&h=196&w=196)

By [Tony Romm](https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/tony-romm/)

“The faster the better,” the workers were told at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, as the little-known financial technology company Blueacorn raced to review small businesses that sought federal loans.

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Speeding through applications, Blueacorn employees and contractors allegedly began to overlook possible signs of fraud, according to interviews and communications later amassed by investigators on Capitol Hill. The company weighed whether to prioritize “monster loans that will get everyone paid,” as the firm’s co-founder once said. And investigators found that Blueacorn collected about $1 billion in processing fees — while its operators may have secured fraudulent loans of their own.

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