Connecticut regulators find rampant fraud in emergency aid after Hurricane Irene

Connecticut InsuranceConnecticut Governor Dannel Malloy has tasked the state’s insurance regulators to investigate allegations of fraud coming from the Department of Social Services. In the wake of Hurricane Irene, hundreds of Connecticut residents sought emergency aid to cover the cost of replacing spoiled food and several other expenses. According to the Department of Social Services, many of the people looking for help from the state were not qualified to receive financial aid because their incomes were too high. These people managed to obtain aid by presenting fraudulent information.

Hurricane Irene too wrought a heavy toll on much of the East Coast. Connecticut was not spared any leniency despite the fact that the storm had been weakened by making landfall. Those affected by the disastrous storm were invited to apply to receive aid from the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Roughly 24,000 people were accepted into the program during September, many of whom have yet to receive any financial aid. The program allows individuals and families to ‘self-declare” their finances. According to the federal government, such claims do not need to be investigated in times of an emergency.

State insurance regulators claim to have already found several thousand cases in which individuals lied about how much money they made in order to receive aid from the program and the state. As the investigation is still ongoing, Governor Malloy has yet to receive a full report on the matter and has reserved his judgment on the issue for a later date.

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