Compliance Today (February 2021)

The United States Department of Health & Human Services Office of Inspector General released its semiannual report to Congress for the time period spanning from April 1, 2020, to September 30, 2020.^[1] The report contains numerous investigations into fraud, opioid use, children’s welfare, and various enforcement actions against white-collar crime.

According to the report, the government may be able to reclaim several billions in stolen or ill-gotten funds from the unethical people who used the pandemic to try to cheat others and profit. Of the more than $4 billion in expected recoveries, the report shows that more than $942 million could be returned based on program audit findings and $3.14 billion in expected investigative recoveries.

Christi A. Grimm, OIG’s principal deputy inspector general, said that OIG has been a leader in the fight against COVID-19–related fraud, “aggressively pursuing those who seek to exploit the public health emergency, endanger people, and steal public funds.”

1 U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Office of Inspector General, Semiannual Report to Congress: April 1, 2020–September 30, 2020, November 30, 2020, https://bit.ly/39BVvHi.

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