Mahoning County seminar addresses public assistance fraud

YOUNGSTOWN

“Waste, fraud and abuse costs the taxpayers millions and millions of dollars every single year,” Mahoning County Commissioner Anthony T. Traficanti told county officials this morning at a seminar on public assistance fraud that was organized by the county’s Department of Job and Family Services.

“If we can return these tax dollars back, if we can crack down on the fraud and abuse and waste, they (the taxpayers) will have a trust back in government, and I think we all need that today,” he said.

“I want to see those dollars returned and given back to the people who need these services,” he said, referring to improperly issued benefits.

The county’s Department of JFS disbursed about $73 million in food assistance and more than $11 million in cash assistance last year.

During that year, it collected $287,162 in restitution for overpaid benefits.

Over the past three years, it reported collecting $1,028,381 in restitution for overpaid food and cash assistance and Medicaid payments.