NCJ Number
81470
Date Published
1981
Length
133 pages
Annotation
This second volume of a three-volume report on the results of a comprehensive review of the nature, extent, and cost of identified fraud at 21 Federal agencies presents details from an analysis of 77,211 estimated fraud cases from October 1, 1976, to March 31, 1979.
Abstract
The data presented are based on information collected from a random sampling of 3,227 fraud cases at the 21 agencies. Fraud is defined as 'any willful or conscious wrongdoing that adversely affects the Government's interests.' A total of 125 types of fraud were identified, and these were combined into nine major categories. Thefts accounted for almost half the fraud cases, and false statements accounted for about another 25 percent. The rest of the cases covered a wide variety of fraudulent activities, including extortion, forgery, kickbacks or bribes, and nonperformance of contract terms. Those committing the fraud were Federal employees (29 percent), individual recipients of Federal assistance (18 percent), corporate or business entities (8 percent), State and local government contractor or grantee personnel (3 percent), and unknown (30 percent). For the 77,211 known cases of fraud during the 2 1/2 years covered by the review, losses are estimated to have been between $150 million and $220 million in 63 percent of the fraud cases. In the remaining 37 percent of the cases, there was no monetary loss. The most common administrative actions taken against Federal employees who committed fraud were establishment of a formal loss recovery plan (25 percent) and dismissal (22 percent). In cases involving non-Federal Government organizations and persons, the most common actions were attempts to recover the loss (40 percent) and issuance of warning letters (14 percent). The Department of Justice criminally prosecuted persons in 74 percent of the 5,877 cases where legal action was taken. Justice handled the cases through pretrial diversion in 11 percent of the cases. In another 14 percent of the cases, the military services court-martialed servicemen and women. The Department of Justice took civil action in 1 percent of the cases. Details of the research methodology are appended, and tabular data are provided. (Author summary modified)