U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Tuesday that his department screened hundreds of millions of federal payments and blocked nearly $100 million that was being sent to deceased people as part of a government-wide anti-fraud effort.
“Treasury has delivered on a key promise of President Trump’s mandate to stop improper payments and fraud before money leaves the Treasury, and strengthen the integrity of the federal payment system,” Bessent said in a statement, referring to an initiative that relies on Treasury access to the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) death master list.
The Treasury screened some 885 million payments totaling around $2.77 trillion as part of a new verification process, his department said. Around 4,900 payments worth $99 million “were returned to the originating federal agencies for review before any funds were disbursed,” a Treasury news release said….
Treasury Intercepted $99 Million in Federal Payments to Deceased People, Bessent Says
