If it seems to you like the word “fraud” is becoming more closely associated with “the Democratic Party,” you’re not imagining it. That phenomenon is unfolding daily before our eyes and it took Trump Administration 2.0 to root it out. After weeks of hearing about all of the ‘alleged’ Medicaid fraud rampant in Tim Walz’s Minnesota, now another blue state has been implicated: Colorado.
The fraud stems from housing assistance programs run by the Department of Housing and Urban Development — and it defies common sense. Investigators found 221 people collecting federal housing aid who were long since dead, unless Washington now considers a coffin or an urn to qualify as “housing.”
Exactly. Of the nearly 3,000 individuals in Colorado who were receiving HUD benefits improperly, 221 of them were deceased:
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is investigating whether Colorado providers helped nearly 3,000 people swindle taxpayer money from Uncle Sam, The Post has learned.
The investigation comes after an internal HUD audit found that benefits were granted to 221 dead people, while another 87 were otherwise ineligible.
The department also said that another 2,519 beneficiaries will need to undergo additional verification.
So here’s the question: Were these merely clerical errors, the product of sloppy record-keeping, or outright fraud? None of the answers are comforting. When the choice is between criminal conduct and staggering incompetence, taxpayers lose either way. And even HUD is calling this apparent fraud:
“From deceased tenants to individuals receiving HUD housing benefits who were never supposed to, the Department has questions for HUD-supported housing providers in Colorado, and we expect prompt answers and enforcement action,” a HUD spokesperson told The Post.
The apparent fraud took place in most of the Rocky Mountain State’s 59 public housing agencies (PHAs) and was particularly pronounced in the Denver Housing Authority, a source said.
HUD officials are set to demand PHAs perform additional verification of beneficiaries and remove both deceased tenants and ineligible beneficiaries from their rolls.
And then what? What comes next? Anything?
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Housing providers may now be on the hook to repay money handed out to people who never should have qualified — whether because they failed to meet income requirements or because they were, quite literally, dead. But if this is truly fraud — if applicants lied about income, family size, or neglected to mention that Aunt Nora passed away — what happens to them? Will anyone face criminal charges? And if not, why not?
Colorado, it turns out, isn’t alone. HUD is uncovering widespread abuse in other states as well — including one location that should surprise absolutely no one:
HUD has also been scrutinizing other states.
Earlier this week, the Washington Examiner reported that the department plans to dispatch investigators to Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn., to assess the state of housing programs there.
While the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority spends about $108 million a year on housing assistance, St. Paul only spends $46 million.
HUD’s plans to send staff to Minnesota comes against the backdrop of the $1 billion Feeding Our Future fraud scandal that has roiled the state and follows Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations focused on the Twin Cities.
What is it about these Democrat-run cities and states? Something in the air? Or is it just plain ol’ arrogance? The aura of untouchability?
A more likely explanation is that this kind of abuse has flourished because fraudsters have been getting away with it for years. In Colorado, housing providers may be forced to repay benefits that were wrongly distributed. Fine. But what about the people who lied? The ones who cheated taxpayers out of billions?
Until there are public trials and real prison sentences, this behavior will continue. Accountability matters. If reports out of Minnesota are any indication that some people may actually go to jail, that at least is a start.
