Feds Gave ‘Energy Assistance’ Money to Dead People

. Feds Gave ‘Energy Assistance’ Money to Dead People

The Government Accounting Office has uncovered massive fraud in a federal program designed to help low-income Americans pay for heating and air conditioning — including payments to 725 imprisoned convicts.

The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program serves 8.3 million U.S. households. But the GAO found that the program paid $116 million to applicants who used 11,000 dead people’s Social Security numbers, as well as to the convicts and to 1,100 well-paid government workers who were not eligible for benefits.

In addition, $3.9 million in subsidies were paid on applications submitted after the applicant had died, and about 260,000 persons receiving benefits had submitted invalid identity information, such as blank Social Security numbers or dates of birth, “making it impossible to determine whether these cases involve fraud,” the GAO report stated.

But the overall level of fraud is likely to be far higher than what the GAO uncovered, since the agency’s audit covered only seven states — and found fraud in each.

“The total dollar amount for all 50 states would be monumental,” the Orange County, California Register noted in an editorial.

Among the government workers receiving benefits was a Chicago-area employee who earned $80,000 a year, yet pocketed $840 in assistance.

“The GAO said that to cut down on fraud, the government needs to be more certain of applicants’ eligibility,” the Register observed.

“We say that to eliminate fraud, the government needs to get out of the business of redistributing taxpayers’ money.”