'Too Trusting Mindset' Left MN Vulnerable To Fraud: Reports

ST. PAUL, MN — A former FBI agent tasked by the governor with assessing fraud in the state cited decades-long vulnerabilities and called for new oversight while presenting his findings Monday, according to reports.

Tim O’Malley, the state’s first-ever director of program integrity, pushed for an independent monitor and compliance committee for the fight against fraud in Minnesota and urged legislators to fund fraud-prevention in every bill establishing or changing programs, The Minnesota Star Tribune reported.

“Somebody has to call balls and strikes and not feel any concern about offending somebody or causing problems for any individual or any agency,” O'Malley said, according to MPR News.

While O’Malley did not find that government officials broke the law, according to MPR, some former human services employees complained about a culture of “compassion over compliance,” KMSP reported, adding O’Malley’s 56-page report flagged a “too trusting mindset.”

"The review undertaken to identify those contributing causes of fraud shows that going back to at least the 1970s, every administration and legislative body was put on notice of the vulnerabilities to the program integrity," O’Malley said, according to KMSP. "Stronger prevention measures should have been taken.”

O’Malley also called for better screening for program providers and enrollees, MPR reported.

The findings follow widespread fraud reports across state social programs, with prosecutors saying the amount stolen could be up to $9 billion, although the Tribune reported allegations of fraud uncovered thus far in some programs are nearer to $200 million.

View the full fraud prevention report here.