Welfare fraud busts only 'tip of the iceberg'
BELLEVUE — Investigating welfare fraud in Brown County carries multiple levels of frustration.
Resources are limited. The county isn't allowed to keep the money it saves by making fraud arrests. And there is the inevitable outcome when an investigator takes a day off.
"I have one person who'll tell me he'll take a vacation day, come back and have a stack of new cases this high," said Sheriff John Gossage, holding his hands about a foot apart.
A proposal introduced Monday might not shrink the stack of files, but it could help the county hire an extra investigator or two to handle the caseload. Rep. Andre Jacque, R-De Pere, is introducing legislation that would enable counties to keep 20 percent of the money they save by stopping welfare fraud.
The challenge: Getting approval from he state Legislature. The Assembly approved a similar measure during the 2013 session, but the bill failed to clear the Senate.
Beginning in 2011, Brown County has averaged 196 welfare-fraud investigations per year and is on pace to approach that figure for 2015, county figures show. Leaders say those investigations have saved taxpayers about $1 million per year that would have been paid to people who aren't entitled to them. Prosecution results in one of every six or seven cases.
They also say significant fraud goes undetected because the county can only afford to dedicate two investigators to fighting fraud.
"We're only hitting the tip of the iceberg," Jacque said during a news conference at the sheriff's office. "It's thoroughly important that we reimburse local governments for these costs."
A 2012 investigation into fraud at a Green Bay liquor store, for example, took months, yielded multiple arrests and sent a couple of the ring-leaders to jail. Others were kicked off the welfare rolls for a year. Officials said at the time that people stole more than $10,000 from the state's Quest program in one month alone.
But officials said current laws discourage counties from pursuing cases because they know there will be little financial return for the time and dollars invested.
dschneid@greenbaypressgazette.com and follow him on Twitter at@PGDougSchneider