Five years since stimulus: Many fraud cases, few losses (USA Today)
WASHINGTON — Despite thousands of fraud cases, the financial losses under the 2009 Recovery Act have been just a fraction of what the government expected.
Five years after President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law, investigators have proven 1,268 cases of fraud in the $840 billion stimulus program, resulting in $57 million in recovered funds.
Still, the amount of fraud discovered so far is far less than what investigators said they expected when Congress passed the stimulus package.
"We have not seen the level of fraud that I think many people feared," said Kathleen Tighe, the chairwoman of the board. The board, created by the Recovery Act, is charged with monitoring all the money spent in the stimulus and disaster relief funds from Superstorm Sandy. She credited unprecedented transparency, aggressive prosecutions and an emphasis on fraud prevention.
But with 97% of the money spent, investigators haven't closed the books yet. More than 1,550 active criminal investigations are ongoing, according to data from the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board.
full: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2014/02/16/recovery-act-stimulus-fraud-convictions/5400705/
