Stopping Fraud and Improper Payments (E259)

Everyone has heard about fraud, waste, and abuse, but building an effective fraud prevention program requires more than identifying problems after they occur.

In this week’s episode of Feds At The Edge, government and industry experts share practical strategies for helping federal agencies stop improper payments before funds go out the door.

Kim Brandt of CMS underscores the scale of the challenge, noting the agency processes roughly $1 million in claims every day. Justin Marisco from the Bureau of the Fiscal Service share how tapping into shared resources, such as Treasury’s Do Not Pay list, the Social Security Death Index, and DHS databases can help validate individuals before funds are ever disbursed. Diligent’s Jason Venner highlights why preventing improper payments is infinitely better than the traditional “pay and chase” approach and how the era of Big Data introduced agencies to analyzing massive datasets, while today’s AI makes it possible to analyze entire datasets, rather than samples, to identify fraud risks.

Tune in on your favorite podcast platform to learn how modern technology and cross-agency data sharing are shifting federal fraud prevention from reactive damage control to proactive defense.

To view this webinar: Stopping Fraud and Improper Payments.

Featured Speakers:

Kim Brandt

Deputy Administrator & Chief Operating Officer

Kimberly Brandt is CMS’s Deputy Administrator and Chief Operating Officer. Previously, she was a Partner at the Washington, D.C.-based policy firm Tarplin, Downs & Young, LLC, where she provided strategic advice on a broad array of healthcare regulatory, enforcement, and policy matters. She also served as an Advisor to the private equity firm Enhanced Healthcare Partners, a private equity firm focused on healthcare and held board positions at two of its portfolio companies.

Kim has held multiple senior executive positions in government, including serving as Principal Deputy Administrator for Policy and Operations during the first Trump Administration. In that role she oversaw all activities necessary for the operation and management of CMS’s $1.4T budget in addition to leading efforts to reform the Physician Self-referral regulations and develop the first CMS interoperability rule.

Kim previously served as Chief Oversight Counsel and General Counsel on the staff of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee where she led multiple healthcare investigations, the investigation into IRS political targeting and oversaw the political nominations process. Before joining the Finance Committee staff, Kim was a Senior Counsel at Alston & Bird in Washington, D.C. Her previous government service includes serving as the CMS Director of the Medicare Program Integrity Group and working at the HHS Office of Inspector General as a Senior Counsel and Director of External Affairs. Kim has a JD with a concentration in health law and an MA in legislative affairs.

Deputy Administrator &
Chief Operating Officer, CMS

Sarah D. Sequeira

Deputy AIG for Audit & Acting AIG for Evaluations

Sarah D. Sequeira was appointed Deputy Assistant Inspector General for Audit for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General (HUD OIG), in August 2022. As Deputy Assistant Inspector General, she is responsible for supporting the Assistant Inspector General for Audit in providing executive-level leadership and direction to OIG audits and reviews in the areas of safe and affordable housing, grants management, disaster recovery programs, and financial management.

Prior to this role, she held the position of Director of the Financial Audits Division, where she was responsible for strategic oversight of the financial statement audits of HUD, the Government National Mortgage Association, and the Federal Housing Administration, as well as overseeing other financial management performance audits and engagements.

Mrs. Sequeira has been instrumental in leading audit teams in identifying several material weaknesses in HUD’s financial reporting and working collaboratively with the Department through audit resolution to improve its financial management maturity. More recently, she has provided executive level oversight in the assessment of HUD’s and certain HUD grantees’ fraud risk management maturity and the portfolio of work related to fraud risk management and improper payments. Mrs. Sequeira holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Accounting from George Mason University, is a Certified Public Accountant licensed in the State of Virginia, and holds a Level III Federal Acquisition Certification for Program and Project Managers.

Deputy AIG for Audit & Acting
AIG for Evaluations, HUD OIG

Tiffany Robinson

Refund Fraud & Investigative Support

Tiffany J. Robinson is a seasoned law enforcement executive with over two decades of progressive experience in criminal investigations, program management, and strategic leadership within the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Currently serving as the National Identity Theft Program Manager, for IRS‑Criminal Investigation (IRS‑CI), operating within the Advanced Analytics & Innovation (AAI) business operating division under the Refund Fraud and Investigative Support (RFIS) section. In this role, Tiffany oversees multiple program areas dedicated to combating refund fraud and enhancing prevention efforts nationwide. She is recognized for developing innovative strategies, implementing succession planning, and creating robust reporting systems to detect and mitigate emerging cyber fraud threats.

Previously, Tiffany served as a Supervisory Special Agent in IRS Criminal Investigation, where she managed teams of Special Agents and support staff, provided oversight for complex investigations, and ensured compliance with IRS, DOJ, and Treasury standards. Her leadership extended to specialized task forces such as SARRT and SIRF, where she directed high-impact cases involving identity theft, money laundering, and financial crimes.

Refund Fraud & Investigative Support,
IRS Criminal Investigations

Justin Marsico

Assistant Commissioner, Fraud Prevention & Financial Integrity

Justin Marsico is the Assistant Commissioner for fraud prevention and financial integrity at the U.S. Treasury Department’s Fiscal Service, where he is working to prevent fraud and improper payments in federal government finances. Justin also serves as the Fiscal Service’s data lead, which includes the publication of USAspending.gov and FiscalData.Treasury.gov.

Before joining Treasury, Justin served as a senior advisor in the Inspector General’s office at the Department of Commerce, where he worked in ethics and compliance, as an analyst at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and previously at Treasury as an international economist.

Justin holds master’s degrees from the University of Michigan in applied economics and public policy. He now lives in Arlington, VA.

Assistant Commissioner, Fraud
Prevention & Financial Integrity,
Bureau of the Fiscal Service

Jason Venner

Solution Sales Director

Jason Venner is a Solutions Sales Director and subject matter expert at Diligent. He helps organizations modernize and strengthen their approach to risk, compliance, internal controls, and audit using data-driven insights and automation from the Diligent One platform.

Jason brings over 25 years of experience as a practitioner, having held leadership roles across audit, risk, and compliance functions in both the public and private sectors. He began his career supporting complex risk programs for U.S. defense and national security agencies, before moving into senior roles at Amtrak and WMATA, where he helped advance enterprise risk and internal control initiatives in transportation. He has also worked in public accounting and consulting, giving him a unique perspective on risk across industries.

Solution Sales Director,
Diligent

Michael Kennedy

Moderator & Contributing Editor

Michael Kennedy retired in May 2017 from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). He had an extensive career in the Federal Government, with leadership responsibilities leading to numerous national level roles at the Senior Executive Service level since April 2006. He served in many positions within the ODNI beginning in its first year of operation and culminating in his final assignment as the Deputy Program Manager for Technology and Standards for the Program Manager – Information Sharing Environment (PM-ISE), within the ODNI.

Mr. Kennedy has left an indelible mark of professional accomplishment and Leadership across a broad spectrum of complex issues, most notably in the development of innovative technology solutions and transformative outcomes for the Intelligence Community (IC) during 42 years of total government service in IT and other leadership roles:

Deputy Program Manager for Technology & Standards, ODNI (Nov 2011 – May 2017)
Director, INTELINK, ODNI (July 2008 – Nov 2011)
Chief, Information and Technology, ODNI (April 2006 – July 2008)
Chief, Networks & Operations – Plans, Policy, & Resource; National Air & Space Intelligence Center (April 2003 – April 2006)
Chief, Intelligence Systems Division, U.S. Southern Command (Feb 2000 – April 2003)
Chief, Department of Defense Intelligence Information Systems (DoDIIS), System Integration Management Office, U.S. Central Command (March 1995 – Feb 2000)
Head of Customer Support & Dep COTR, Supercomputer Center; Deputy Chief – Communications and Networks, Naval Oceanographic Office (Oct 1989 – Feb 1995)
Retired U.S. Navy Captain with over 30 years combined active and reserve duty (1975 – 2009)

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
						1
2	3	4	5	6	7	8
9	10	11	12	13	14	15
16	17	18	19	20	21	22
23	24	25	26	27	28	29
30	31

Featured Speakers:

Deputy Administrator &
Chief Operating Officer, CMS

Deputy AIG for Audit & Acting
AIG for Evaluations, HUD OIG

Refund Fraud & Investigative Support,
IRS Criminal Investigations

Assistant Commissioner, Fraud
Prevention & Financial Integrity,
Bureau of the Fiscal Service

Solution Sales Director,
Diligent

Contributing Editor,
FedInsider

Claudia Hosky

Claudia Hosky

Claudia Hosky

Claudia Hosky

Claudia Hosky

Claudia Hosky

Claudia Hosky

Claudia Hosky

Our Company Mission

The FedInsider Philosophy

Who Should Sponsor An Event

Who Should Attend An Event

Webinar Training & Networking

Why Should I Sign Up For FedInsider

Stopping Fraud and Improper Payments (E259)