Renata Miskell, Linda Chero and the Payment Integrity Team 

Our government experiences tens of billions of dollars in financial fraud every year, threatening the integrity of federal programs and undermining public trust.

A Treasury Department team led by Renata Miskell and Linda Chero have begun to tackle this problem, using data sharing, artificial intelligence and machine learning to prevent and recover a record $7 billion in fraud and improper payments last year, up from $652 million in fiscal 2023.

“Renata and Linda have reimaged fraud prevention and financial integrity through the strategic use of data and modern technology,” said Amy Edwards, a former Treasury deputy assistant secretary. “Both are remarkable and dedicated leaders who have focused on high-risk transactions and partnered together to get big results for taxpayers.”

The Treasury Department disburses about 1.4 billion payments valued at nearly $7 trillion to more than 100 million people every year. Since the pandemic, there has been a dramatic rise in the magnitude and complexity of financial fraud targeting federal programs, driven by the shift to digital government interactions, the availability of sensitive data due to data breeches and advanced tactics using automation and AI.

Miskell, Chero and their Treasury colleagues worked with federal, state and industry stakeholders to address these issues by strengthening and expanding data-sharing partnerships, identifying weaknesses and points of vulnerabilities in the payment systems, adopting best practices and embracing emerging technologies.

“They changed the game in what we were doing and helped agencies across the government identify and prevent fraud,” said Tim Gribben, the Treasury’s commissioner of the Bureau of Fiscal Service.

Their efforts have included helping more than 60 federal programs connect to over 30 unique data sources to address common challenges like verifying payee eligibility, identity and account details. And by using AI, for example, the government can now quickly confirm that people register the same bank account and address for Social Security and veterans’ benefits, setting off alarm bells if there is a discrepancy.

As a result of the team’s work, the Department of Labor provides state unemployment agencies with access to “do not pay” data sources and services, and the Department of Health and Human Services uses a system that crossmatches data from states and territories to identify duplicate public assistance payments in two or more states.

Miskell and Chero also established a government-wide Payment Integrity Working Group to share best practices and lessons learned and created a catalogue that includes ways to detect and prevent common fraud risk schemes.

Miskell said she “deeply cares about a well-functioning government,” adding that she sees the best way to achieve those goals “is through strong financial management.”

Chero said she is “proud of the work we have done…modernizing payments to and from Americas bank account,” adding that it is “a great service to the country and one that is bipartisan.”