TAMPA, Fla. — Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced a public assistance fraud task force during a press conference in Tampa on Wednesday morning.
According to the AG, the task force will streamline investigative and prosecution efforts against fraud across state agencies and Florida law enforcement.
WATCH: 'Return money back to the taxpayers': Florida AG launches fraud task force in Tampa news conference
“We are launching this task force to bring accountability and prosecute those who are stealing from Floridians,” said Uthmeier. “Florida is not Minnesota or California, and we will safeguard the taxpayers’ investment in the services meant for the vulnerable.”
"It's unnerving when criminals out there would want to fraudulently steal, and take advantage of, those individuals," Uthmeier added.
Uthmeier appointed Assistant Statewide Prosecutor Scott Strauss as special prosecutor.
"The people running these schemes will not see it coming," Strauss said during the news conference. "You will see what truly aggressive, proactive, coordinated prosecution looks like. And it will be relentless.
A statement from the AG's office said the special prosecutor will oversee multi-circuit investigations, advise agencies, assist in drafting court documents, and "secure, where necessary, the assistance of local law enforcement using constitutional and statutory authority to grant statewide jurisdiction to sworn county and municipal authorities."
Uthmeier said the task force would focus on those who get state help from programs like SNAP, EBT, or even rental assistance.
"We are going to return money back to the taxpayers," Uthmeier said. "The millions in Medicaid and Public Assistance fraud arena makes up part of the $800 million we have been able to recover over the last year."
In a state report released in January, it said Florida had recovered more than $113 million in Medicaid fraud in the 2024-2025 Fiscal Year. More than $100 million of that was related to criminal recoveries, while more than $9.1 million came from civil recoveries, including settlements from whistleblower cases.
Florida received 3,662 abuse complaints during that same time period. More than 540 were related to provider fraud, with the rest related to patient abuse, neglect and exploitation — a majoirty coming from the Department of Children and Families, the report highlighted.
That same report said more than $45 million in overpayments were identified and concluded $63 million in fraud was prevented.
In the case of overpayments, more than $45 million was tied to denied claims.
The report also stated that for every dollar spent on fraud prevention, the state was able to recoup more than $11.
Tampa Bay 28 was at the press conference on April 15 and streamed it live on the website and Facebook.
Watch the press conference:
Florida Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Shevaun Harris, Statewide Prosecutor Brad McVay, Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Mark Glass and Medicaid Fraud Control Unit Director Kathleen Von Hoene were also at the event.
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