Feds: $68 million recovered from WNY fraud, waste, and abuse – THE WELLSVILLE SUN

The ACE Unit also settled non-False Claims Act related matters, including self-disclosed overpayments to federal health care programs and several claims involving the federally funded Railroad Retirement Board pension program.

U.S. Attorney DiGiacomo praised the work of the ACE Unit stating, “The settlements and recoveries achieved by the ACE Unit in 2025 demonstrate this Office’s commitment to protecting taxpayer money. My office will…

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PAYROLL & HR CONTROLS (PREVENTING “GHOST” SCHEMES)

Payroll fraud is often the hardest to detect because it “looks” like a normal business expense.

• Segregation of Duties (SoD): The person who adds new employees to the system must not be the same person who approves the monthly pay run.
• Mandatory Vacation Policy: Require all financial and HR staff to take 5–10 consecutive days of leave annually. Fraud often surfaces when the perpetrator isn’t there to “hide” the trail.
• Ghost Employee Audit: Perform a quarterly “Headcount Reconciliation” where managers must physically verify every name on their payroll list exists.
• Self-Pay Blocking: Ensure the payroll software has a hard-coded block preventing administrators from editing their own salary or bank details.