Georgia officials spend about as much investigating claims of food stamp fraud as they recoup for the state.
In the 2019 fiscal year, Georgia investigators spent more than $7.2 million to look into claims of fraud. Investigators found that $8.4 million in food stamps were wrongly distributed in 2,985 cases. State officials won’t say how much money they’ve recovered — the federal government releases that information — but in previous years it’s been in the neighborhood of 80%…
Buzz Brockway, the vice president of public policy for the think tank Georgia Center for Opportunity, said while the percentage of fraud is relatively low compared with the number of people who receive the benefits, he believes it’s important for the state to investigate and punish those involved.
“You want to try to prevent fraud when you can by putting safeguards in place to make sure the programs are benefiting the people (they were meant to benefit),” said Brockway, a former state House representative.