It pays to be dead. No seriously it really does pay to be dead, at least that seems to be the case for now deceased federal workers who are being paid to the tune of $120 million per year.
According to a recent study over the last five years the Federal government has dolled out $601 million to dead federal workers from various branches of the government. That whopping figure is a 70% jump in deceased payments compared to previous years.
According to the Washington Post the number annually sits between $100 million to $150 million.
The inspector general says fault for the payments lies at the Office of Personnel Management (the same agency who conducted the study) which has allowed individual cheating of the system to occur at record levels.
In one case of massive fraud a man managed to keep his father’s annuity payments coming for 37 years after his death, it wasn’t until that man died himself that the government realized they had been scammed out of $515,000.
The OPM isn’t completely in the dark, they do check social security death records and they conduct random physical checking for anyone over the age of 90, steps the inspector general says are “partial remedies, at best.”
Have you ever received a check from the federal government for someone who has since passed on? Share your stories in our comments section.
