http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/appropriations/106945-lawmakers-uncover-fraud-in-liheap-program
No I hardly think the LIHEAP program can even be considered the posterchild for fraud and abuse. I believe that title actually belongs to the big banks, or to Congress themselves.
Three House Republicans on Thursday released a report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) showing that 9 percent of households in seven states are improperly receiving funds from the Low Income Heating Assistance Program (LIHEAP) totaling $116 million a year.
"It looks like a ton of LIHEAP money was distributed to con artists who applied under the names of convicts and the dead," said Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) in prepared remarks. "Even some people living in million-dollar houses got their utility bills paid for by the taxpayer."
Barton is the ranking member on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. He and Reps. Michael Burgess (R-Texas) and Greg Walden (R-Ore.) requested that the GAO investigate the matter.
The report found that more than 11,000 dead people and hundreds of prisoners were used as applicants for LIHEAP benefits. More than 1,000 federal employees whose federal salary exceeded the maximum income threshold received benefits. In several cases, people living in million-dollar homes paid their utility bills using money from the program, which is run by the Department of Health and Human Services.
"This is yet another poster child of waste, fraud and abuse,"
