Elon Musk's DOGE Gains Access to $6 Trillion Treasury Payment System Aimed To Uncover Government Fraud
DOGE's Investigation Into Treasury's Waste, Abuse, and Major Grifts to Yield Preliminary Results Soon
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk, recently gained access to the payment systems managed by the Bureau of the Fiscal Service. The Bureau handles over $6 trillion in annual payments, including Social Security, Medicare benefits, tax refunds, and federal salaries. Since this access just happened this weekend, we will not know the results of DOGE’s investigation for some time, so it is important not to read too much into this action until we know more. I suspect some preliminary results will come out by next weekend.
This is because of DOGE’s mandate to find waste, abuse, and fraud in the federal government. In addition to other claims, there is suspicion of a major grift within the system. DOGE expects to uncover significant issues within the Treasury's payment approval processes, alleging that payment officers were instructed to approve payments even to known fraudulent or terrorist groups. This has yet to be proven, which is why the payment systems operations are evaluated.
This has all been seen as necessary due to the recent reports and investigations highlighting several instances of fraud within or related to the U.S. Treasury Department:
Treasury Check Washing and PPP Loan Fraud: Five individuals were indicted in February 2024 for a scheme involving "check washing" Treasury checks and defrauding the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). They altered checks to change the payee, amounting to $295,000, and defrauded the PPP for $112,000. The Eastern District of New York prosecuted this case. It involved cooperation between the IRS Criminal Investigation, the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General, Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the NYPD.
General Fraud Schemes: The U.S. Treasury Office of Inspector General (OIG) has been vigilant about various fraud schemes. They have warned about individuals using fraudulent Treasury-related financial obligations or accounts to attempt purchases or pay debts. This includes scams involving promissory notes, private bonds, and using federal routing numbers to create false checking accounts. These schemes have targeted banks, charities, individuals, and companies, with the Treasury OIG emphasizing that no such financial instruments are valid.
