State Financial Officers Return $28 Billion, Uncovering $5.7 Billion in Fraud They Tie to Biden-Era Controls
Updated
Updated · Fox News · May 23
State Financial Officers Return $28 Billion, Uncovering $5.7 Billion in Fraud They Tie to Biden-Era Controls
1 articles · Updated · Fox News · May 23
$28 billion was protected or returned to taxpayers in 2025 by state financial officers, including $5.7 billion in waste, fraud and abuse identified in SFOF’s first oversight report.
SFOF President O.J. Oleka said relaxed controls and weak eligibility rules during the Biden administration let fraud spread across benefit programs, calling it “a feature in the system, not a bug.”
Another $22.3 billion came from investment earnings and unclaimed-property programs, while the group said state treasurers are now tightening oversight and trying to reclaim more misspent funds.
The effort is aligning with Vice President JD Vance’s Trump-backed “War on Fraud” and outreach to Congress, including House Oversight Chairman James Comer, to lock in tougher anti-fraud measures.
Oleka pointed to cases in Minnesota, California, Maine and Ohio as evidence the problem is national and argued future administrations will need to sustain the crackdown for lasting change.
With states managing federal funds, can a new White House task force actually stop billions in local fraud?
As AI fights government fraud, could it wrongly deny essential benefits to millions of vulnerable people?