July 12, 2021

The Florida Department of Children and Families (FDCF) has agreed to pay $17.5 million and forgo payment of $14.7 million in unpaid bonuses to resolve allegations that it submitted false information to the USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which was known as the Food Stamp Program until 2008.  Although the USDA reimburses states for administering SNAP, it relies on the states to determine applicant eligibility, administer benefits, and perform quality control.  FDCF allegedly failed to have proper quality control procedures in place, resulting in false information submitted to the USDA, for which they received unentitled performance bonuses from 2011 through 2014.  USAO EDWA

Tagged in: Defendants, FCA Federal, Government Programs Fraud,