WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Social Security Administration has announced that through a collaboration with the Social Security Office of Inspector General (OIG) and the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), it is planning to expand its successful Fraud Prosecution Project to 33 United States attorneys’ offices nationally.
This project has led to the prosecution of multiple instances of Social Security fraud. Given the past success of the program, Social Security aims to support both OIG’s and DOJ’s fraud-fighting efforts through this expansion.
Through its Fraud Prosecution Project, DOJ and Social Security pool legal resources to prosecute individuals who defraud Social Security programs. The Office of the General Counsel (OGC) at Social Security employs agency attorneys to serve as special assistant United States attorneys (SAUSAs) in United States attorney offices (USAOs) across the country to lead these prosecution efforts. The project is among several antifraud initiatives to combat and prevent all forms of Social Security fraud, but is unique in its collaboration among OIG, OGC and DOJ.
“The Social Security Administration is committed to the prosecution of fraud to the full extent of the law,” said Asheesh Agarwal, Social Security general counsel. “Criminals who have defrauded taxpayers and received trust fund dollars intended for those who are truly in need will be found and punished.”
SAUSAs across the country in September secured a number of indictments and convictions in various Social Security fraud cases.
In Ohio, charges were brought in eight deceased beneficiary fraud cases, including charges against a subject who allegedly illegally collected more than $270,000 in Social Security benefits after his mother died in 1993. In another case, a man pled guilty to stealing a 65-year-old man’s identity to file for and improperly receive about $15,000 in benefits.
The Fraud Prosecution Project has been an extremely effective collaboration with Social Security, the OIG and the DOJ. From early 2016 to date, SAUSAs nationwide have secured more than 300 federal convictions, leading to judicial orders for more than $34 million in restitution to Social Security and other agencies.
In Ohio, a judge sentenced a woman to six months in prison for stealing $35,000 in Social Security benefits by falsely reporting that she served as the representative payee for her disabled son and that her son lived with her, when he actually was in state custody.
To support this successful anti-fraud initiative, this year, Social Security has committed to expand the project by employing 35 SAUSAs in USAOs across the country.
“The SAUSAs work closely with OIG criminal investigators across the country to prosecute our Social Security fraud cases, so we’re very pleased to see Social Security dedicate additional resources to the Fraud Prosecution Project,” said Social Security Acting Inspector General Gale Stallworth Stone. “Social Security fraud is a serious offense. Increased prosecution of fraud cases demonstrates that Social Security is committed to holding individuals accountable for obtaining benefits illegally.”
For more information on the Fraud Prosecution Project and the agency’s other antifraud efforts, visit https://www.ssa.gov/antifraudfacts/.
Members of the public can report suspected Social Security fraud to the Social Security Fraud Hotline at https://oig.ssa.gov/report; send U.S. mail to P.O. Box 17768, Baltimore, MD 21235; fax 410-597-0118; or call 800-269-0271 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday.
