STEPHEN OHLEMACHER, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — A government investigator says that over the past seven years, a small group of Social Security judges approved disability claims for nearly 25,000 people who didn’t qualify.

The cost to taxpayers: $2 billion.

Social Security’s office of inspector general is scheduled to release a report on the judges Monday. The Associated Press obtained a copy Friday.

Investigators examined cases decided by 44 judges who had been approving disability claims at unusually high rates. The judges represent about 4 percent of the administrative law judges who decide disability claims for Social Security.

The Social Security Administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment.