Federal Agencies Can, and Should, Do More To Combat Fraud in Government Programs

Gao ID: GGD-78-62 September 19, 1978

The Federal Government's economic assistance programs, amounting to about $250 billion annually, are vulnerable targets of fraud and related white collar crimes. Identification of the extent, nature, and frequency of these illegal acts, together with strong internal controls and effective audit coverage, are essential first steps in combating and preventing them.

A review of several agencies indicated that they have not been doing enough to identify fraud in their programs and that the Department of Justice has been slow in assisting Federal agencies' antifraud efforts. However, Federal agencies have recently recognized that more needs to be done, have indicated that fraud detection is now an agency high priority, and actions are being taken to bolster their current efforts.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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