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The fraud prevention program, most often referred to as FEV, mainly involves intensive verification of error-prone case characteristics or questionable eligibility information provided by applicants for W-2 payments and services including employment position payments and JALs.
Certain situations may give the W-2 agency reason to review applicant case information in much greater detail to help prevent possible fraud. Some examples that might cause consideration for more in-depth review are reported expenditures that exceed the level of income reported for the household; reluctance to provide needed information about resources or income; or lengthy unexplained absences from the residence and difficulty in contacting the person to obtain information.
Prevention activities include requiring additional documentation of both financial and nonfinancial eligibility information as appropriate for each questionable case including, but not limited to, income, assets, identity, residence, and household composition.
The FEV prevention process is appropriate for applicants who have not yet been determined eligible for W-2 programs. Its purpose is to prevent fraud, waste and abuse in the W-2 program by verifying ineligibility before payments are lost due to false reporting. W-2 agencies are responsible for ensuring that enhanced verification is conducted when information supplied by applicants is questionable or error-prone characteristics are present. W-2 agencies may have staff specifically assigned to prevention activities; however W-2 agencies have the flexibility to assign this function at the supervisor level or contract out this function.
Fraud prevention procedures involve more resources and increased documentation than normally required of the Financial and Employment Planner (FEP). Fraud prevention specialists should have extensive knowledge of W-2 eligibility requirements, verification procedures, error-prone profiles, and all resources necessary to proficiently verify information.
FEV must be conducted in accordance with the requirements specified in the IMM, Section 12.2. An FEV referral for fraud prevention has the same time limits as any additional request for verification made by the agency to an applicant. When the agency makes an FEV referral to obtain a more intensive review of an applicant’s documentation for determining W-2 eligibility, it may delay determining eligibility by seven working days from the date the FEV referral was made. Applicants who disagree with the delay or the findings of the verification process may request a fact finding review by the W-2 agency. (See 12.1)
When a W-2 agency or its designee suspects fraudulent reporting or a failure to report a change in circumstances in an ongoing case, the case must be referred for fraud investigation, not FEV. (See 4.5.3)
This
page last updated in Release # 11-02
Release Date: 04/07/11
Effective Date: 04/07/11