They lie with statistics which isn’t technically a lie. I used to do this sort of work in the sandwich making off-season. Nobody wants to just make up numbers, just generate fake raw data. You could get nailed for that. But you can distort the picture by showing part of the data or producing misleading statistics. With diligence, you can uncover the data or the false premise that their metrics rely on. No I dont think they are literally making up dead people out of thin air. They like to distort while skirting technical fraud. They can justify that they arent lying that way. Bureaucrats just want to please their bosses. They dont even have to be asked to lie. They know what their supervisors want.