State Auditor Uncovers Fraud

State auditor Suzanne Bump says Massachusetts has lost more than $5.5 million to fraud in public assistance during the financial year that ended in June. 

Bump's office documented the losses in a final report of the 2012 fiscal year that was released Wednesday.  The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamps, accounted for most of the fraud, at nearly $1.7 million.

The report comes shortly after the state passed a law that would enact stricter penalties for food stamp trafficking and restrict cash assistance purchases.  Bump's Bureau of Special Investigations found evidence of more than $2 million in falsely obtained public assistance benefits and services. The office investigated more than 2,000 instances of fraud between April and the end of June.

[Via AP]