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Fraud, Waste and Abuse

By Sean Stillmaker in News on Jul 4, 2010 8:00PM

The low income home energy assistance program is a $4.5 billion federal funded strategy to assist impoverished families by paying their energy bills. But more than $100 million was wasted on fraudulent applicants because the program has little to no oversight. The Government Accountability Office investigated the program after a 2007 investigation by the Pennsylvania state auditor found 429 applicants received more than $162,000 using Social Security numbers of dead people.

In Illinois the cap on eligibility is for a family of eight receiving a maximum household income of $55,515. However, an Illinois U.S. Postal Service employee earning $80,000 per year reported zero income and received $840 for her energy bills. “Times are tough and I needed the money,” she told investigators in the GAO report. She saw “long lines” of applicants and wanted the “free money.”

The GAO investigated Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Virginia. The Associated Press reported the following conclusions:

  • $3.9 million to 11,000 applicants who used the identities of dead people
  • $370,000 to 725 applicants who were in prison
  • $671,000 to about 1,100 people who made more than the maximum income eligibility

In a letter addressed to the GAO, the Illinois Deputy Director of the Office of Energy Assistance said it’s hard to verify social security numbers without access to the online database of the Social Security Administration, but they’ll work harder.