Gov. Dannel Malloy called a rare Sunday news conference to announce an investigation into several state employees who have may have filed fraudulent claims to a federal reimbursement program in the wake of Tropical Storm Irene.
"If I look angry, it's because I am," Malloy said.
It appears that a number of state employees misrepresented their incomes to fraudulently obtain funds from the Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as D-SNAP, according to the governor.
The funds became available in September, after President Obama approved disaster assistance for tens of thousands affected by Tropical Storm Irene. The benefits included debit-cards which allowed eligible applicants to buy food and other items lost during the storm.
Malloy did not have a total number of state employees potentially involved, or a total dollar amount, but said the most anyone could have received was $1,200.
The program was administered by the Department of Social Services. When asked if any DSS employees were involved in the possible fraud, Malloy said the employees worked for a number of different state agencies.
"I will not tolerate fraud in in any form, especially if the fraud is perpetrated against a public program by a public employee," Malloy said Sunday.
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The governor's office has already contacted both state and federal authorities to look into the alleged fraud.
"If any state employee, or anyone else, defrauded the disaster funding program, the consequences will be immediate and severe. For a state employee, that may be termination and prosecution," he said.
