A state bureau charged with investigating public assistance fraud allegations identified fraud in 14 percent of the cases it examined between January and March.
Examiners at the Massachusetts Bureau of Special Investigations uncovered more than $4 million worth of fraud over the three-month period, including $1.6 million in Medicaid fraud and $1.3 million in fraud connected to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (known as SNAP).
State Auditor Diana DiZoglio, whose office runs the bureau, informed state legislators of the fiscal year 2023 third quarter numbers in a May 23 letter that was posted recently to the Legislature’s web site. (The state’s fiscal year begins on July 1 and ends on June 30.) The bureau identified fraud in 200 of the 1,407 cases it investigated.
The bureau’s investigative authority extends to any assistance program administered by the state Department of Transitional Assistance, the state Department of Children and Families, and the state Division of Medical Assistance, which administers MassHealth (the state’s Medicaid program). The Department of Early Education and Care is not included in Bureau of Special Investigations’ enabling statute, but the bureau works with the department through a memorandum of understanding.
The bureau said its fraud cases are referred to agencies for administrative actions and that “fraudulent overpayments are recovered through civil agreements, individuals are disqualified from programs for specified periods of time, and cases are prosecuted in state and federal courts.”
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Fraud by Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Pix4free 
