Watchdog employees allegedly steal $13,000 of the government's lunch money

Five employees of the Government Accountability Office, a federal watchdog agency that audits other parts of the government for efficiency, waste, and fraud, have been indicted for defrauding the government to get cheaper school lunches for their kids.

The workers allegedly falsified income reports to take advantage of discounted school lunches for low-income families, collectively stealing some $13,000 over four years. Though the families involved made up to $78,000 annually, they reported little or no income to pay $0.40 per lunch rather than $2.75 or $3.00.

Officials who discovered the fraud say it is not limited to the indicted GAO employees; they suspect several hundred other federal workers are engaged in similar activities.

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