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CED-77-112 1 (1977-07-18)

handle is hein.gao/gaobaacnb0001 and id is 1 raw text is: I . - a REPORT TO CE -77-/.._ T-E -/? O7S THE CONGRESS BY THE COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES The Food Stamp Program-- Overissued Benefits Not Recovered And Fraud Not Punished Department of Agriculture The Government is losing over half a billion dollars annually because of overissued food stamp benefits caused by errors, misrepresen- tations, and suspected fraud by recipients, and by errors by local food stamp offices. For every $100 of the more than $5 billion in annual benefits issued nationally, overissuan- ces account for about $12; only about 12 cents of that $12 has been recovered. The 8 local projects GAO reviewed were doing little to identify and recover the value of these overissuances. At five of the eight projects, about half of the dollar value of claims established for food stamp overissuances were classified as involv- ing suspected fraud by recipients, but very few recipients were prosecuted or otherwise penalized. The courts are already clogged with more serious criminal cases and most prosecu- tors are reluctant to prosecute suspected recipient fraud cases. If some semblance of integrity is to be maintained in this program, food stamp recipient fraud cannot be allowed to continue unchecked. Administrative ad- judication and penalty assessment could be an effective deterrent. Also, better financial incentives are needed for States and local projects to devote more effort to identifying and recovering over- issuances and punishing recipient fraud. CED-77-112 - ;f//~72 £ *' ~ JULY 18, 1977 _1( ( ( At , '\ \ ) &* _ (5 ' Zr U _331e; -a LMA03050

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