Federal prosecutors in Massachusetts launched a new team they said would “actively and aggressively” go after benefit as well as voter fraud in the state.
Teasing dozens of investigations already underway, U.S. Attorney Leah Foley said she sees “insufficient guardrails in place in Massachusetts to address the rampant benefit fraud across the state.” Her office has charged 15 people with nearly $9 million in public benefits fraud since December.
A pair of assistant U.S. attorneys, Philip Mallard and Mark Grady, will lead the new Benefit and Voter Fraud Team as it investigates cases involving MassHealth, the SNAP food stamp program, childcare subsidies and voting. The effort also features a hotline (1-855-SCAM-MA-1) where members of the public can report suspected benefits fraud.
The announcement comes after President Donald Trump announced a “war on fraud” in his State of the Union this year, specifically naming Massachusetts as well as Maine and California.
On Beacon Hill, the five Republican state senators last month called for an oversight hearing to examine what they called “significant and recurring evidence of SNAP EBT fraud, operational failures” at the state’s Department of Transitional assistance, and “the Commonwealth’s inability to adequately protect taxpayer funds and program beneficiaries.”
