FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico—USDA Inspector General John Walk led a team of criminal investigators and auditors to Puerto Rico to strengthen partnerships with Puerto Rico officials and federal law enforcement partners to fight fraud in USDA-funded programs.
The series of meetings highlighted recent findings by Puerto Rico’s Comptroller that identified $150 million in USDA-administered food assistance funds that went to deceased people under the Puerto Rico Nutrition Assistance Program (NAP), a federal program that functions similarly to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which provides food assistance in all 50 states. NAP funding is administered in Puerto Rico by the Department of Family.
According to the Comptroller’s March 2026 report, 38,618 NAP participants were not alive at the time benefits were paid out between 2017 and 2024. During the meeting with Comptroller Carmen Vega Fournier, Walk expressed appreciation for her work to uncover the findings and committed to working with her office, federal partners, and authorities in Puerto Rico to take appropriate measures to exercise any necessary federal oversight, including the possibility of criminal actions and follow-up audit work.
Walk also met with Puerto Rico Secretary of Family Suzanne Roig-Fuertes to discuss the payments made to the nearly 39,000 dead recipients. The two officials agreed on the need to cooperate to address federal food assistance program integrity and fraud, including data sharing between the Department of Family and OIG and cooperation of criminal enforcement against fraudsters.
“I am grateful for the Comptroller’s work that led to this important finding so that proper authorities can work to ensure that federal food assistance goes to eligible recipients and not spent by those exploiting the dead,” said Walk. “The productive set of meetings with key officials in Puerto Rico this week demonstrate the importance of cooperation and collaboration between USDA OIG, oversight and law enforcement partners, and the state- level agencies that administer USDA-provided funds at the local level.”
USDA OIG is currently in the process of reviewing SNAP data requested from 10 states to evaluate program integrity, including whether payments are going to deceased individuals. Of those 10 states, six have already shared data. The remaining four states continue to object to OIG’s information request, preventing auditors from assessing the integrity of their recipient data and eligibility determinations.
“Federal oversight benefits tremendously from working together across government at every level to improve integrity and accountability of federal programs,” said Walk. “I call on all state administering agencies to work with my office to strengthen integrity and accountability in federal nutrition assistance programs so that they benefit those intended by the law. Let’s do this together so American taxpayer-funded assistance is not squandered by fraud, waste and abuse.”
This initiative is taken as part of the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud under the leadership of Vice President JD Vance.
Media Contact USDA OIG
Carl (CJ) Hobbs
Congressional & Media Relations
USDA Office of Inspector General
202-720-9110
The Puerto Rico Comptroller’s report was published originally in Spanish. An English version of the report can be accessed here. (This Government of Puerto Rico Office of Comptroller Audit Report was issued in the original in Spanish. It has been translated by USDA OIG from its original language to English, solely for convenience. While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, the translation may contain minor discrepancies in wording. In the event of any such discrepancy, the original-language report is the authoritative version.)
Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico: Audit Report OC 26-12 of the Department of the Family – Administration of Socioeconomic Development of the Family (Spanish version)
More information about the Puerto Rico Nutrition Assistance Program