(The Center Square) — Louisiana’s top auditor says the state is increasingly working with federal prosecutors to turn findings of fraud, waste and abuse into criminal cases as Washington expands its effort to police fraud involving programs such as Medicaid, food assistance and federal grants.

Louisiana Legislative Auditor Michael Waguespack said his office routinely sends investigative audit reports to prosecutors and meets with local district attorneys, the state attorney general or U.S. attorneys depending on where the money involved originated.

“What we typically send them is our final reports,” Waguespack told The Center Square. “Anything concerning, you know, fraud, waste or abuse.”

That existing pipeline is taking on greater significance as Louisiana joins a broader Justice Department effort to connect state watchdogs with federal investigators.

The Justice Department in July named Louisiana among seven states participating in its Southeast Fraud Enforcement Partnership, an initiative covering cases involving more than $350 million in alleged or intended losses from taxpayer-supported programs like SNAP.

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, Secretary of State Nancy Landry, Waguespack and Inspector General Angele Davis represented the state.

On Monday, the federal government launched the National Fraud Detection Center, a prosecutor-led operation that brings together the FBI, IRS Criminal Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, and inspectors general across the federal government. The program seeks combine data and analytical tools to generate criminal investigative leads across programs that historically operated in separate silos.

Louisiana’s secretary of state is separately providing DOJ access to publicly available corporate-registration data under the Southeast partnership. DOJ says those records can be compared with public-benefit payment information to identify hidden relationships among companies and suspected fraud schemes.

Waguespack said the auditor’s office is not dramatically changing how it handles suspected crimes. Its investigative audit division has pursued fraud for decades. But federal prosecutors appear increasingly interested in cases involving government money, he said.

“I think what’s happening is Washington is finally starting to focus a lot more on fraud,” Waguespack said.

One recent case demonstrates how the process can work.

In February 2025, the Legislative Auditor released an investigation into Education Explosion Inc., which operated Impact Charter School in Baker.

Auditors alleged that then-CEO Chakesha Scott diverted more than $1.5 million in school money to another nonprofit account, while also identifying questionable spending on travel, vehicles, a building the school did not own and other expenses. The report was delivered to both the East Baton Rouge Parish district attorney and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Louisiana.

“The Department of Justice reviewed that, adopted that, brought it to a grand jury and, of course, has since sent out some indictments,” he said.

A federal grand jury indicted Scott, Eric Scott, Courtney Scott and Sam Green on July 15. Prosecutors allege the defendants conspired from 2018 through 2024 to steal Impact Charter School money for personal use.

DOJ subsequently highlighted the Impact Charter prosecution as one of Louisiana’s examples of the new federal-state fraud enforcement effort.

Waguespack said his office frequently meets with prosecutors before publishing an investigative report.

“If it involves federal monies,” he said, auditors may meet with a U.S. attorney, while state or local matters can also involve the attorney general or district attorney.

If prosecutors later want the documents underlying an audit, Waguespack said his office generally asks the feds to obtain a subpoena.

The growing federal interest comes after years in which extraordinary amounts of public money moved through pandemic relief programs and longstanding benefit systems.

Waguespack pointed to Medicare, Medicaid, federal grants, Paycheck Protection Program loans and other COVID-era spending as areas where large amounts of money created opportunities for fraud.

Louisiana authorities have separately been pursuing benefit fraud at the state level.

In June, Attorney General Liz Murrill’s Louisiana Bureau of Investigation announced a case alleging nearly $157,000 in combined Medicaid and SNAP fraud involving a recipient and a former Louisiana Department of Health employee. State investigators said they received the initial criminal referral from LDH.

Another Louisiana Medicaid investigation led to the June arrests of a couple accused of improperly receiving more than $37,000 in benefits, while the attorney general’s Medicaid Fraud Control operation announced 21 arrests in July and said the office had secured $73 million in court-ordered restitution.

Federal authorities also charged two defendants in Louisiana as part of a nationwide June health care fraud takedown involving alleged schemes targeting Medicare, Medicaid and other health programs. Nationwide, DOJ said 455 defendants were charged in cases involving more than $6.5 billion in alleged fraudulent claims.

Waguespack said the Impact Charter matter is not the only case his office has discussed with federal authorities, although he declined to identify ongoing matters.

“There’s always others that we meet with,” he said, including cases discussed with the attorney general, district attorneys and the Justice Department.

“They take a look at it, review it,” Waguespack said. “If it’s something they’re interested in, or something they want to investigate further,” federal authorities can seek the auditor’s supporting records.