> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://broadbandbreakfast.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# GAO Flags BEAD as Vulnerable to Fraud
- URL: https://broadbandbreakfast.com/gao-flags-bead-as-vulnerable-to-fraud/
- Published: 2026-07-27T20:26:15.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-17T21:47:25.000Z
- Description: Audit says decentralized funding structure creates risks, NTIA has implemented recommended controls.
- Author: Jericho Casper
- Tags: NTIA, #with-siderail, GAO, fraud

WASHINGTON, July 27, 2026 – Government auditors warned Thursday that the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program is vulnerable to fraud.

Although no adjudicated fraud cases tied directly to BEAD were identified, the [report](https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-26-109100.pdf?ref=broadbandbreakfast.com) from the Government Accountability Office finds that decentralized funding structures, where money flows from a federal agency to states, then to subrecipients or contractors, multiply the entry points for fraud while diluting direct federal oversight. BEAD fits that pattern precisely.

“Fraud in BEAD could be carried out by grantees and subgrantees (i.e., internet service providers) and internal parties,” the report states.

BEAD ranked in the top five programs in which GAO identified fraud risks and assessed as likelihood to prioritize action; ten agencies identified some risks but did not assess likelihood.

BEAD, administered by the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration, was the only broadband specific program among the 20 programs examined.

GAO noted that because BEAD is a newer program with fewer audits the rates do not reflect program integrity. The program had ten single audits completed during the period.

in a 2023 report, GAO reviewed fraud risk management for other NTIA broadband deployment grant programs and found that NTIA’s approach did not align with leading practices

That review resulted in several recommendations, including that NTIA designate a dedicated entity to lead fraud risk management, identify inherent fraud risks, and assess their likelihood and impact. 

“NTIA agreed with the recommendations and fully implemented all of them,” the report states. 

According to NTIA, the agency took actions to enhance fraud risk management activities in alignment with GAO’s Fraud Risk Framework, and these actions also apply to BEAD.

“As Administrator Roth has said, BEAD must be managed with discipline and careful oversight, and we will continue to closely monitor the program to protect against fraud, waste and abuse,” a spokesperson for NTIA said.

In the report, GAO cited a previous case in which a grant manager fabricated invoices and expense reports to misappropriate more than $800,000 under a different NTIA broadband grant program. The individual was sentenced in April 2025 to 28 months in prison and ordered to pay $828,152 in restitution.

The BEAD findings were part of a wider GAO review requested by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and addressed to Chairman **James Comer**,R-Ky., and Ranking Member **Robert Garcia**,D-Calif.

GAO estimated that the federal government loses between $233 billion and $521 billion annually to fraud, about 3 percent to 7 percent of average federal obligations, based on data from fiscal years 2018 through 2022\. 

The report also found that federal agencies have not consistently applied GAO’s [Fraud Risk Framework](https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-15-593sp.pdf?ref=broadbandbreakfast.com), first issued in 2015, and that oversight gaps persist across many of the 20 programs reviewed. 

GAO has made more than 50 recommendations to strengthen fraud risk management across the programs examined, 28 of which have been implemented so far.

The fraud risk findings arrived just one day after [a separate GAO report](https://broadbandbreakfast.com/questions-remain-after-ntias-review-of-billions-in-broadband-grants-gao-says/) found unresolved questions surrounding NTIA’s internal review of $47.7 billion in broadband awards.