How One State Audit Found 6,000 Ghost Employees on the Payroll

When California's state auditor ran a computer match of employee IDs against payroll records in 2025, the result was stunning: over 6,000 people were receiving paychecks even though they hadn't logged into a state system in more than a year. Some hadn't worked a day in three years. This episode walks through how the audit worked, why the overpayments went undetected for so long, and what other governments can learn from the fix — including a new real-time cross-check system that saved $42 million in the first six months. Lucas and Luna also discuss the broader pattern: governments are terrible at finding their own mistakes because the incentives to look are weak. A rare case where sunlight actually cut waste. #GhostEmployees #GovernmentAudit #California #PayrollFraud #PublicSpending #Waste #StateBudget #AuditorGeneral #PayrollSystem #GovernmentEfficiency #TaxDollars #FiscalPolicy #Economics #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #Podcast #LucasAndLuna #FiscalPolicyPodcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo