Legislation Introduced to Protect Federal Retirees from Benefits Fraud

"...Senators James Lankford (R-OK), Gary Peters (D-MI), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) introduced this month the Representative Payee Fraud Prevention Act (S 1430), a bill that would crack down on federal retirement benefit fraud and misuse.

“Most Americans work toward their retirement and count on their retirement funds. We should ensure federal employee’s retirement funds are secure by protecting them from the embezzlement of their benefits,” said Lankford. “Currently, the misuse of funds by a representative payee is punishable if the Social Security Administration or Veterans Affairs issues the payments, but not if those payments are issued by the Office of Personnel Management. This is a straightforward, commonsense bill that closes this loophole.”

If passed, the legislation would give US Attorneys the statutory authority to prosecute retiree representatives who misuse funds from the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) and the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS)...."
Read more at My Federal Retirement