Any time a company or corporation or private citizen defrauds the government, it should inspire all taxpayers to investigate “who did it, how much did they get, and were they caught and convicted?” On July 10, The Columbian ran a good story on “Improper payments by feds top $100 billion.”
Taking a closer look at the graph. I found that four programs with the largest fraudulent payments were ones that relied on the cooperation or a “blind eye” of the medical profession, pharmacies and insurance companies. Those four programs stole $70 billion, as compared to the rest stealing “only” $27 billion. Of course, I am looking at corporate thievery, and citizen thievery. Which one is more important to you, or more easily taken to trial and convicted — $70 billion or $27 billion?
But if that were the only fraud, we would be fortunate. The story stated Pentagon’s estimates of fraud for 2011 “were neither reliable nor statistically valid.” Now that is an understatement.
In 2011, the Department of Defense reported $1.1 trillion was paid in the past 10 years to companies engaged in fraud; $255 million was paid to 54 companies convicted of fraud. Northrop Grumman Corporation received $12.9 billion despite serious charges of fraud.
