Florida woman got $3.4M COVID grant she never applied for

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A Florida gas station employee said she’s listed as receiving a $3.4 million COVID relief check that she never applied for and never received.

Holly Hill resident Amy Williams said she’s stunned that her name and an outdated address ended up in the federal database stating that she received millions in COVID Restaurant Revitalization Funds for a catering business. Williams never applied for the funds, never received any money and has never worked in the restaurant business.

Of the 31 Daytona Beach businesses that received the COVID relief funds, Williams is at the top, allegedly receiving the biggest check for a catering business she does not have, according to the Daytona Beach News-Journal.

And she hasn’t lived at the address listed on the check for roughly eight years, she said.

The next highest check in the area went to a beachside nightlife spot for nearly $560,000, the paper reported.

Williams’ husband works as a restaurant cook, but that’s their only tie to the food industry. And that restaurant did not receive any relief funds either.

“I don’t have any money,” said Williams. “I’d really love to know how this happened.”

The 44-year-old had been unemployed for three years while battling breast cancer and recently started working at a gas station. She and her husband live with their three children in a modest apartment.

The Small Business Administration declined comment on the mistaken check, saying its Office of Inspector General and the agency’s federal partners are working diligently to resolve fraud incidents.

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