BOSTON, Mass. (WWLP)– The Massachusetts State Auditor’s Office has released a report on public benefit fraud in the state during Fiscal Year 2020.
The Auditor’s Bureau of Special Investigations (BSI) identified $8,164,438.85 in public assistance fraud during the past year and closed 490 cases identified with fraud.
The highest number of cases were in Hampden county, with 241. The lowest were Dukes (Martha’s Vineyard) and Nantucket counties with zero instances each.
Hampden county also lead in employment fraud, non-custodial parent fraud, and other earner in the home fraud instances.
Bureau of Special Investigations Annual Report-Fiscal Year 2020: July 1, 2019–June 30, 2020
The report highlights notable activity surrounding BSI’s cases during the year including:
· Multiple indictments in US District Court for theft of government benefits;
· The guilty verdict for a Lowell woman who defrauded the Department of Early Education and Care; and
· The sentencing of a North Attleboro woman for larceny and public assistance fraud.
BSI recommends cases for prosecution based on the severity of the fraud, the intent of the perpetrator, and the possibility for the case to serve as a deterrent to future fraud.
You can report public benefit fraud here.
