Fraudsters abused Biden's lax policies to steal billions, financial watchdog claims

As pervasive fraud schemes continue to sweep across the U.S., a group that seeks to preserve economic freedoms at the state level says that former President Joe Biden's policies were a main driver for the proliferation of the issue.

OJ Oleka, CEO of the State Financial Officers Foundation, said "relaxed controls" during the last administration opened the door to widespread fraud and misuse of taxpayer dollars. And state treasurers are now leading the fight to strengthen oversight and reclaim funds for the American people.

"This isn't a partisan statement, but it is a true statement to say that this kind of exploded during the Biden administration," Oleka told Fox News Digital. "A lot of the controls were turned off. A lot of states who have the philosophy that ‘more government is good’ just simply turned on the spigots and allowed anybody to get access to any benefit."

Speaking from SFOF's annual conference in Clearwater, Florida, Oleka said fraud has become so deeply embedded in government programs that it's now "a feature in the system, not a bug."

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SFOF's first-ever Oversight Report for 2025 found that affiliated state financial officers protected and returned $28 billion to taxpayers last year, uncovering $5.7 billion in waste, fraud and abuse. They, meanwhile, generated or returned another $22.3 billion through investment earnings and unclaimed property programs.

"We say that fraud actually has an industry in this country," Oleka said. "What we’re trying to do is root out the fraud industrial complex that exists within our government programs. That’s the biggest challenge."

He pointed to weak eligibility requirements during Biden's time in office — and sometimes no requirements at all — exploding the instances of fraud.

"Then practically anybody can have access to the benefits — people who don’t need them, people who don’t deserve them, people who aren’t even eligible for them," he lamented.

President Donald Trump this year tapped Vice President JD Vance to lead a nationwide "War on Fraud." It stemmed from the highly scrutinized Minnesota "Feeding Our Future" scheme, which allegedly defrauded the government out of hundreds of millions of dollars.

Oleka praised the Trump administration’s anti-fraud efforts, and in a February letter to the White House told Vance that SFOF members are "allies already on the battlefield" ready to help protect taxpayer dollars.

"The beauty of what’s happening now is you’ve got the Vice President and the task force and our state financial officers rooting to get this stuff out," he said. "That’s the goal: you get it out root and branch, you stop it from being in the system, and you make a benefit system that actually works again for the American people."

But, he said, future administrations need to continue the crack-down if Americans want to see lasting change.

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The SFOF is also working directly with members of Congress, including House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., and state officials to ensure fraud is addressed beyond the Trump administration, according to Oleka.

He also would like to see some of the changes cemented through executive order.

"You’ve got a system that is allowing you to do the things that you’re doing, but it’s clearly unethical, it’s clearly wrong, and you saw a lot of this actually take off during the Biden-era," Oleka said.

Massive fraud was recently exposed in California, Maine and Ohio, where he said Democratic leaders failed to act because they "don't have the political will to stop the fraud."

A multi-million dollar hospice fraud scheme in California was uncovered, while a Maine health services company was accused by a whistleblower of misusing millions in Medicaid funds in December. In Columbus, Ohio, hundreds of home health companies that shared the same addresses and operated out of vacant or poorly maintained properties were found to have billed the federal government more than $250 million in Medicaid spending.

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"We’ve seen it in Minnesota, we’ve seen it in California, Maine and Ohio, all across the country," Oleka said. "But what you also see are state financial officers who are standing up for the American people. What you also see is Chairman Comer standing up for the American people. You also see the Vice President and the task force and the President of the United States standing up for the American people."

He insisted that taxpayers should not be on the hook to foot the bill for fraud.

"The American people do not benefit when there is a system that’s giving out their money to people who don’t deserve it and who don’t need it," he said.

Oleka argued that the push to end fraud goes hand-in-hand with lowering costs for Americans.

"Our folks not only talked about fraud, but also about how they can help lead the fight to make things more affordable for the American people," he said. "As a result, the tone of the conference was hopeful."

Fox News Digital reached out to Biden's office for comment.