Another major fraud scandal just broke in a deep blue state – this time Colorado, instead of Minnesota.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development is investigating whether Colorado providers helped nearly 3,000 people defraud taxpayers through federal housing assistance programs.
Critics say mirrors the massive fraud scandals that have plagued Minnesota and other Democrat-run states.
An internal HUD audit found that benefits were granted to 221 dead people, while another 87 recipients were otherwise ineligible for assistance. The department said another 2,519 beneficiaries will need to undergo additional verification.
“From deceased tenants to individuals receiving HUD housing benefits who were never supposed to, the Department has questions for HUD-supported housing providers in Colorado, and we expect prompt answers and enforcement action,” a HUD spokesperson told The New York Post.
The apparent fraud took place in most of Colorado’s 59 public housing agencies and was focused in the Denver Housing Authority.
The probe comes as the Trump administration has ramped up scrutiny on federal welfare programs across the country, and cracked down on widespread fraud that flourished during the Biden administration.
HUD is also dispatching investigators to Minnesota to investigate fraud in the housing programs in that state. The Minneapolis Public Housing Authority spends approximately $108 million annually on housing assistance, while St. Paul spends $46 million.
The crackdown comes after the massive $250 million Feeding Our Future fraud scandal that has rocked the state. Federal prosecutors have charged more than 70 defendants with allegedly stealing hundreds of millions of taxpayer money. Organizations involved in the scheme claimed to be serving thousands of meals per day to low-income children, but investigators found many of those meals never existed.
Colorado Governor Jared Polis, a Democrat viewed by some as a potential contender for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination, has not yet publicly commented on the HUD investigation.
The Trump administration has made rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse in federal programs a top priority. Education Secretary Linda McMahon recently announced that the Department of Education had thwarted nearly $1 billion in federal student aid fraud, including $30 million in loans disbursed to deceased individuals and $40 million to companies “using bots disguised as fake students.”
“From day one, the Trump Administration has been committed to rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse across the federal government,” McMahon said in a statement.
HUD Secretary Scott Turner has pledged to restore integrity to federal housing programs and ensure that taxpayer dollars reach only those who are legitimately eligible for assistance.