FCC Investigating Potential Fraud in E-Rate Educational Program in Minnesota

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr on Friday announced an investigation of potential fraud through the E-Rate program in Minnesota.

“The FCC is committed to stopping bad actors from defrauding our USF programs, including those who target our E-Rate program as a way to line their own pockets. When billions of dollars are at stake, we need to ensure that the Commission’s programs are working efficiently and effectively,” Carr said in a written statement:

By requesting critical program information from Minnesota educational institutions suspected of wrongdoing within this program, we’re taking that initial and critical step towards being well informed, good stewards of federal dollars to ensure program funds are being used for their intended purposes.

Carr sent three Letters of Inquiry to Minnesota educational institutions to investigate potential misuse of federal funds through the E-Rate program. This is part of the agency’s mission to combat waste, fraud, and abuse in the Universal Service Fund (USF) programs.

In April, Carr announced the suspension of seven individuals involved in a multimillion-dollar fraud scheme in the E-Rate program. The FCC recently voted on its suspension and debarment rules to enable the agency to take quicker action against fraudsters.

In related news, Carr said at Breitbart News policy event in March that the agency’s inspector general found that more than 94,000 dead people were signed up for Lifeline federal benefits in California.

“The Lifeline program is a federal program that you pay for,” Carr explained at the event. “It is effectively an assessment that appears on your monthly telephone bill. We collect that money, and it goes to do a lot of things, but one of the things it does is to provide subsidies for phone or internet service for low-income households.”

“Well, turns out, over the years, it has been very attractive to fraudsters,” he continued. “And the FCC’s inspector general did a report and advisory and found that in California alone, over 94,000 dead people were signed up for and getting Lifeline in California — itself was in charge of vetting to see who’s eligible for Lifeline or not.”