Possible fraudulent usage of Wisconsin’s FoodShare program has spurred further investigation into the program by the Department of Health Services.

The Wisconsin State Legislature Joint Audit Committee released a report of the allegations Friday as part of a comprehensive audit process, and will publish a more detailed audit in the early spring, said Joint Legislative Audit Committee Chairperson Rep. Samantha Kerkman, R-Powers Lake.

The DHS administers the FoodShare program to assist low-income individuals in purchasing food. The program received a budget of $1.1 billion in the fiscal year of 2010-11, according to a statement released by the committee.

Wisconsin residency is required to qualify for FoodShare assistance, but federal law mandates the program to allow members to use benefits outside of Wisconsin. Last year, $32.9 million of the $1.1 billion budget of the FoodShare budget spent outside of the state, according to the statement.

According to the statement, while out-of-state purchases are legal, certain patterns of inappropriate and fraudulent use have been detected, and the Audit Committee is requiring the DHS to further investigate the issue.

Kerkman said some recipients may be selling or trading their FoodShare cards illegally.

“Some individuals are using their cards in Wisconsin when they’re also using it out of state on the same day, only using the PIN number manually,” Kerkman said. “We suspect that they are selling their FoodShare cards for cash.”

The statement released said in 2010-11, there were 334 recorded instances of FoodShare purchases being made in Wisconsin on the same day that the card’s account number was manually entered to make a purchase out of state.

An audit report released by the committee also claims 152 individuals made purchases exclusively outside of Wisconsin, totaling $324,187.

“They should only be receiving benefits in one state,” Kerkman said. “If you aren’t living in Wisconsin, you shouldn’t be receiving benefits in our system. If they qualify in another state, they should receive benefits there.”

DHS spokesperson Stephanie Smiley said it may be possible that out-of-state vendors are defrauding the system by selling FoodShare PINs.

Kerkman and the Audit Committee are calling on the DHS to look into the suspected cases and make changes to the program to prevent future abuse.

According to Smiley, the DHS has begun their investigation and is looking into future reforms for the program.

“We are looking at each one of the cases that the Joint Legislative Audit Committee outlined for us in the report,” Smiley said. “If they aren’t appropriate, we will take any appropriate action to recover the benefits erroneously spent.”

In addition, the DHS plans to train local human service agencies on fraud prevention and detection in order to prevent future inappropriate usage.

The DHS investigation should be completed within the next few weeks, Smiley said, and they will report back to the Audit Committee with their findings on or before Aug. 1.