INDIANAPOLIS – U.S. Department of Agriculture Inspector General John Walk was in Indiana this week to strengthen partnerships with state officials and federal law enforcement partners to fight fraud in USDA-funded programs.
Walk met with state agencies, federal law enforcement, and USDA farm and rural development program officials to reaffirm USDA OIG’s commitment to interagency cooperation on a wide range of initiatives including SNAP fraud, strengthening programs that serve farmers and rural communities in the Hoosier State, and animal welfare.
“Federal oversight benefits tremendously from collaboration across government at the state and federal level. We must work together to improve integrity and accountability of federal programs,” said Walk “USDA OIG is proud to support the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud under the leadership of Vice President JD Vance in the whole of government war on fraud and will leverage all available resources to protect American tax payers and those who rely on USDA programs in Indiana and across the country.”
Walk met with Steven Brown, Indiana state executive director of the USDA Farm Service Agency, and Steve Howell, USDA Rural Development Indiana state director; followed by meetings with E. Mitchell (Mitch) Roob, Secretary of the Indiana Department of Family and Social Services Administration; Thomas E. Wheeler II, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana and Jared Prentice, Inspector General for the state of Indiana.
Media Contact USDA OIG
Jim Hoehn
Media Relations
USDA Office of Inspector General
james.hoehn@oig.usda.gov