WASHINGTON — Vice President JD Vance claimed Tuesday the Trump administration’s anti-fraud task force has worked to recover as much as $160 billion in fraudulent small business loans, COVID-19 relief and student aid, among other government handouts.

“We referred over $22 billion in fraudulent small business loans back to the Treasury for collection,” Vance said at a White House event. “We deferred more than $1.3 billion in fraudulent Medicaid reimbursements, that were coming from various states, particularly California.”

Another $135 billion “stolen after the floodgates were opened in the immediate aftermath of COVID” was also targeted, as was $6.3 billion in “suspected fraudulent government contracts,” he added.

“And finally, we’ve blocked $60 million in student aid fraud that should have gone to young people trying to get an education, but instead were going to fraudsters,” the veep noted.

Vance serves as co-chair of the White House Anti-Fraud Task Force, along with Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson. 

Tuesday’s meeting at the executive mansion convened several state attorneys general to discuss ways to combat fraud schemes that have bilked US taxpayers to the tune of billions.

Ferguson lamented the loss of “high-trust” culture in the US that he said has allowed benefit fraud and theft to proliferate.

“It’s why deodorant is now locked behind plastic windows at pharmacies. It’s why security guards are seen at every store in America. The social trust has evaporated and people are taking advantage of it,” the FTC chair said.

“And the same is true with our federal benefits programs.”

The DOJ launched a new division focused on prosecuting fraud April 7 — and has announced more than 450 actions to combat the schemes in the 50 days since its creation.

“It includes charges in a $650 million sober homes Medicaid fraud scheme in Arizona. It includes a guilty plea in a $270 million Medicaid fraud scheme in California,” recited Colin McDonald, assistant attorney general of the DOJ’s National Fraud Enforcement Division.

McDonald urged the attorneys general in attendance to help launch Making Fraud Completely Unprofitable (MFCU) units in each of their states and make use of a fledgling special attorneys grant program that has $300 million at its disposal to fight fraud.

“This grant program will pay for you to send attorneys to join the Fraud Division or your local U.S. Attorney’s Office, in addition to paying the full cost of prosecutors … you can receive a 20% premium to boost your justice system, staffing, and capacity,” he noted.

“Third, and this is critical, bring your state’s investigators and data to the table. For us to bring a case, we need documents. We need witnesses. Bring your documents and bring your witnesses to the table.”

Democratic state AGs held a counter-programming event with New York’s Letitia James and others on Tuesday. 

California and Illinois — all of which have been targeted by the Trump administration for fraudulent payments — also had their state AGs in attendance.