Pursuit's Take
The Food and Nutrition Service’s (FNS) Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) issues around $70 billion in benefits annually. The Office of Inspector General (OIG) reviewed approximately 1.56 billion SNAP transactions representing approximately $23 billion to identify potential fraud.
We found that 3,394 authorized SNAP retailers (retailers) used Social Security Numbers (SSN) that matched SSNs of deceased people. Additionally, 193 retailers listed owners who were not at least 18 years of age. While FNS did have some controls to edit or verify SNAP retail owner information, these controls were
not adequate to ensure owner information accuracy.
During the 21 month period, OIG reviewed 3,394 retailers who reported SSNs of at least one deceased person. These 3,394 retailers redeemed about $2.6 billion in SNAP benefits. In addition, 193 retailers had at least one owner who reported a birthdate that indicated they were younger than. These 193 retailers redeemed $41 million during the period under review.
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