This is from the Semiannual Report to Congress prepared by Social Security's Office of Inspector General. Note that 143,816 total allegations of fraud were received but there were only 228 indictments or criminal informations issued. That's a pretty low ratio. Note also the vast number of imposter scam allegations received. This is where the real fraud problem is at Social Security. (I received a call earlier this week from a former client who was the recent victim of imposter fraud. How long will it take before his benefits are restored?)
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Also, why is Gail Ennis still the Inspector General?
If you ever worked for the agency you'd know why there are very few prosecutions. OIG doesn't take any cases other than those with very large amounts that are slam dunks. They don't like prosecuting old or disabled people as it doesn't look good in the press. Apparently there aren't enough people to do the work to prosecute cases of fraud for only $20,000. I stopped referring cases because no matter how bad the case looked to the layman's eye, it wasn't bad enough for OIG to do anything with. It's similar to a situation where police would only give tickets to those going over 100 mph and then concluding that speeding must be very uncommon.
ReplyDeleteI referred a couple of cases to OIG. They wanted me to do all the work first and then send a referral. As if I had time for that.
ReplyDeleteI can assure you that super majority of the allegations are made by disgruntle
ReplyDeletefamily members, and 98% are BS.
@12:36 You are spot on. The total number of referrals I have made to OIG over 25 years and not one has been looked at. You get the canned response from them. But they keep telling you to fill out the referrals so you can waste your time for nothing.
ReplyDelete@801PM I worked many of those allegations and I agree the ones that come from the public are BS. But the ones the employees discover usually aren't BS. The amount of money lost may not be great in some cases but there is usually wrong doing on the part of the beneficiary. I had a rep payee that stole money from his children that were not in his care for years, 4 or 5 as I recall, and the PIA was substantial. Referral to OIG didn't result in anything.
ReplyDeleteI had a case with a woman receiving monthly benefits under two SSNs over several years. The overpayment was somewhere well over $100,000. The beneficiary acknowledged the two numbers on a police report. I thought it was a slam dunk. OIG declined to pursue, possibly because of her advanced age and the optics of pursuing an elderly woman. It can be a disheartening.
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