Legistorm: Transparency's Sidekick

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the progress of its Fraud Hotline during the past 7 years.

GAO found that: (1) the structure as well as the interviewing, screening, referral, and follow-up procedures of the Hotline have not changed in the past 7 years; (2) over 74,000 calls have been received in the past 7 years which resulted in 12,000 cases warranting further review; (3) 71 percent of the calls warranting further review were received from anonymous sources; and (4) callers who lacked specific information or allegations which did not involve federal programs were directed to the appropriate state or local agency. GAO also found that: (1) allegations referred for further review have been categorized according to the participant in the alleged improper activity; (2) the highest proportion of participants involved in improper activities was among federal employees and individual recipients of federal financial assistance; (3) of the 12,000 cases referred for further review, 9,200 have been closed; (4) the most commonly substantiated cases were those involving private use of government property, federal employees' work hour abuse, and welfare fraud; (5) 396 hotline cases have been referred to the Department of Justice for review and possible prosecution in the past 7 years; (6) in many cases, federal agencies have taken administrative action against federal employees, contractors, and other individuals; and (7) millions of dollars in waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement have been identified as a result of the calls to the GAO Hotline.