Ohio lawmakers pushing for more tools to find taxpayer fraud

(The Center Square) – A pair of bills introduced recently in the Ohio Legislature would give the state’s Inspector General authority to subpoena electronic records in fraud investigations in an effort to reduce the theft of taxpayer funds.

Currently, inspector general investigators are not authorized to directly petition courts for electronic search warrants, Inspector General Randall Meyer said at a news conference.

“Since my appointment in 2011, I have observed first-hand the fundamental changes to how criminals communicate and coordinate their fraudulent activity,” Meyer said. “Traditional hard-copy records have evolved into cloud storage and reliance on electronic devices. Evidence from these sources is needed for investigators to conduct their investigations efficiently.”

Giving the inspector general power to subpoena electronic records would allow investigators to obtain evidence from social media, email and text messages, Meyer said.

Text messages can reveal the names of the peo...