Otter Tail County Reviews Benefit Fraud and Collections Recovery Figures

Total collections across Otter Tail County's human services programs surged to more than $1.78 million in 2025, nearly doubling the $807,622 recovered in 2023, as county commissioners reviewed enforcement figures that include a renewed push to criminally prosecute welfare fraud.

County Attorney Michelle Eldien briefed the Board of Commissioners at its March 10 meeting, laying out collection efforts and enforcement actions her office has pursued. "Fraud is a hot topic and I've been at the legislature speaking about it, and I'm passionate about it," Eldien told commissioners. She clarified that total amounts reported to the board covered collections as a whole, noting that overpayments or errors not rising to the level of fraud "can be recouped by other means including voluntarily or civilly."

The largest share of those totals came not from fraud cases but from medical assistance estate claims. Nonfraud recoveries reached approximately $648,420 in 2023, climbed to $850,439 in 2024, and exceeded $1.63 million in 2025. Fraud enforcement, while representing a smaller portion of the overall figures, has become an intensifying focus.

County collections officer Crystal Herman told commissioners at an April 13 meeting that Otter Tail County had referred 11 cases to law enforcement since resuming criminal referrals, with three people now facing charges. The county had stepped away from that approach for years before reversing course.

"We had not been doing that for quite some time," Herman said. "Some of these crimes are pretty egregious. We're talking huge dollars, we're talking misinformation intentionally given to the agency over many years so we felt there was a need to start pursuing those criminally again."

Most fraud investigations involve individuals who failed to report income or changes in eligibility, generating overpayments in programs such as medical assistance and food support. The county has partnered with the Fergus Falls Police Department on the referred cases and receives $100,000 annually from the state to fund fraud investigation. The state requires the county to demonstrate $3 in savings for every dollar received, either by stopping benefits or recovering overpayments. Herman said the county exceeds that threshold, returning $5 in demonstrated savings for every $1 in state funding.

Since 1999, the county attorney's office and the human services department together have recovered $18.9 million, with Otter Tail County retaining $8.9 million of that total.

Commission Chairman Lee Rogness noted that welfare fraud ranks among the issues taxpayers raise most often when he speaks with constituents. Herman framed the enforcement work in terms of program integrity rather than cost recovery alone. "Ultimately, we want to make sure the people who are entitled to these benefits and truly need them because let's be honest, a lot of people need them who didn't need them before," she said.

The county's efforts come as the Minnesota Department of Human Services has separately dealt with fraud cases involving Medicaid, home health assistance, emergency housing and autism therapy for children, putting renewed pressure on county-level oversight statewide.