San Diego County spent more money investigating public assistance fraud last year then it uncovered in fraud. But the District Attorney’s office says the county saves far more over the long term.
The DA investigates applications for assistance programs such as food stamps and CalWORKs, the state’s welfare program, for fraud.
County budget figures show the DA's Office spent more then $8 million tracking down $5 million in false claims.
John Haley is in charge of those investigations. He says the savings is potentially much larger because many of the applicants could receive benefits for several months.
“Twelve months times the $4 million gives you $48 million.”
More then 20,000 assistance claims were sent to the DA’s office for investigation last year. About one in four had inconsistencies or false claims.