Federal Manager's Daily Report

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The CFO Council released a publication it produced in conjunction with the Treasury Department titled Program Integrity: The Antifraud Playbook, for use by the federal financial management community along with state and local agencies.

The publication, posted on the CFO site, is “designed to provide practical guidance, leading practices, and helpful resources for agencies to establish or enhance their antifraud programs and meet the requirements of the Fraud Reduction and Data Analytics Act of 2015 and OMB Circular A-123,” according to the release announcement.

“Furthermore, the playbook clarifies actions needed to streamline program integrity initiatives and will help agencies reduce the amount of money lost through improper payment,” it said.

Among the “plays” are: assessing level of exposure to fraud; setting goals; creating an antifraud “dream team”; thinking like a fraudster; build on what you have; look for quick wins when starting fraud analytics; training; information sharing; establishing a feedback look with the IG; taking action; and checking progress.

“The best way to begin identifying and understanding your agency’s vulnerabilities to fraud is to develop fraud schemes – scenarios focused on specific programs or processes that highlight potential entry points for fraudulent activities.” – https://cfo.gov/fraudprevention/

Combatting fraud has been a major element of the government’s focus on improper payments—which include not only as overpayments due to fraud or mistakes but also underpayments and correct payments that are lacking required documentation—and has been the subject of numerous reviews by agency IGs, GAO, congressional committees and watchdog groups.