Massachusetts officials identify over $6 million in public benefits and assistance fraud

BOSTON – State Auditor Suzanne M. Bump today released the Fiscal Year 2021 (FY21) annual report for her office’s Bureau of Special Investigations, which investigates allegations of public benefits fraud. The report notes BSI identified $6,139,720 in public assistance fraud during the past fiscal year, down from $8,164,438 the prior fiscal year in part due to less agency referrals, backlogs, and delays in fraud calculations, all which coincided with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. During this time, BSI has continued to investigate and identify fraud in order to maintain program integrity in public assistance programs.

In FY21, BSI opened 3,224 new investigations and completed 3,404 total investigations, including those that may have been opened during previous fiscal years. Of the 3,404 total investigations, 479 identified fraud, and the average amount of fraud was $12,817.79.

The report provides a series of tables and figures that show the total number of fraud instances the Bureau identified in each county. Bristol County led the state in total fraud allegations with 555.

“In Massachusetts, we recognize the value of a strong social safety net to help people put food on the table, access medical care, and more. While fraud represents a small portion of total public assistance spending, it has a disproportionate negative impact on public trust in these programs,” Bump said. “At a time when more people are relying on this assistance because of economic hardships, my office remains committed to ensuring these programs are run with integrity.”

The report highlights notable activity surrounding BSI’s cases during the year, including:

· Multiple indictments in US District Court for theft of government benefits;

· Active participation in federal public assistance fraud task forces, despite challenges posted by pandemic

During FY21, BSI also formed a training team to identify staff training needs; build informative trainings, presentations; and effectively lead training sessions for all BSI staff. The training team successfully created and executed a remote process to conduct civil recoveries and interviews that were previously conducted in-office only.