Welfare Fraud

[uscitizen]

Do a little studying on that folks and then get back to us.

 

[JD_2B]

Only one person? Well, thank goodness for that. I do not mean denying KIDS food; I mean finding a better way before we flush more money away. I'd like to see "communal food markets" where only basics can be purchased. Do you support people using cash assistance for booze and acrylic nails Jillian? Because rumor is that's more than one person.

According to this article, the people who were defrauding welfare were the ones ringing up added items on the tab, including items that the people did not know about.

MOST people on welfare would prefer to use their food money on food. Admittedly I have known a few that have sold food stamps for cash, just because they needed diapers, but nothing that I thought was immoral.

And- the ones who are defrauding the welfare system are doing it in a LOT of different ways, simultaneously. I know ONE lady (not a friend, but someone I am acquainted with through another friend) who is taking in disability for herself and her child, first of all- but still working as a bartender at strip joints under the table, making 800 dollars a night. Her disability income ALONE is well above the maximum income requirements for food stamps, and yet she still gets like 400 a month for her and her kid. Also, to say that she even uses the disability money to give her child a better future would be a lie. Her kid was sent home twice for head lice, and was at home for two weeks, during which time they supposedly took care of it with special shampoos recommended by the pharmacist. I just saw this kid at the Cupid dance last night, and she was scratching her head like crazy, so I checked her head, and sure enough- she still has a shitload of creepy crawlies in there. Not to mention, she opts for her daughter to go to the cheapest place around for after school care (even though she is home and available to be with her daughter) by paying the 15 dollar annual membership fee to the boys and girls club, rather than spending a few hundred a month on a more suitable after care program. Nothing against boys and girls club, but her daughter is developmentally disabled, and the parents expect my kid to walk her from school to the club every day, and they dont even make arrangements for her to have a back up person to walk her. They also expect him to protect her, and my son is only 11 years old, for christ sakes, against my son's own bullies. This lady has a drivers license and a vehicle and is too fucking lazy to learn to drive a stick shift, or just doesnt LIKE driving a stick, whatever. Dude she lives only 3/4 of a mile from the school. It takes all of 3 minutes to drive over there. The club is about the same distance, but the kids walk home in the pouring fucking rain- MY SON walks to the boys and girls club ALONE in the rain because the bitch is too damn retarded to think to offer my kid a ride, even in the pouring COLD rain. I am at work, so I cant pick him up. My son came home with soaked shorts, a soaked coat, etc, today. We are getting him a "pocket umbrella" and maybe a child size poncho to store in the backpack now. I am about to tell the mom to go take a long walk off a short bridge, too. Tomorrow, I will talk to her. My phone battery is dead right now, lol.
Oh and we paid a hefty price for her daughter (who my son considers a good friend, but she is kindof a little brat, really- sweet, but bratty) to go to my son's birthday party at a local museum, and her mom gave her 20 dollars but specifically told her it was not for toys, just for her to have food. She showed up with a packed lunch in her backpack, too, but they were empty handed in regards to a birthday present. Soooo.. I got creative, and when she said her mom told her she was allowed to spend money in the museum gift shop, (after saying her mom said no toys, which I turned a deaf ear on to), I got her excited about the museum ice cream (food) and a few cheapie toys. She bought my boy a pencil and some astronaut ice cream. She is a sweet little girl, but her mom sucks. LOL!

Ugh.

The system is not perfect, but I still agree that if people like me called the law on people like that more often, then the welfare system would waste far less money. On the other hand, you do have to hand it to them- welfare is the fastest way to bankrupt the government, which is essentially what we need to have happen, in order to get out of this whole big brother mindset.. Backwards, but that is how it is eventually going to happen.

 

[kitchenman]

I have been made aware of an individual who, in a court of law, for other circumstances, was induced into admitting to having committed 3 years worth of welfare fraud, from 1993 through 1996. This individual has also been very manipulative throughout the years, and must be held accountable for this crime, if for nothing more than to pay back restitution. The system is faltering, our taxpayer dollars continue to fund it, and it's time those who've fraudulantly received it, pay it back.
Does anyone have any idea of who to contact?

 

[kitchenman]

Sorry, the state the fraud occurred in is New Jersey.

 

[Polk]

A New Jersey food store owner and two employees have been sentenced to prison and ordered to pay restitution for defrauding the federal food stamp program of more than $280,000.

Prosecutors say the men regularly rang up fraudulent charges on customers' electronic benefit transfer cards, giving customers part of the amount in cash and keeping the USDA's payment for the full value.

New Jersey 101.5 FM - Prison Terms For Three NJ Men in Food Stamp Fraud

$280,000 here; $280,000 there. Soon we are talking about a lot of money. NO MORE ENTITLEMENTS UNTIL THEY SORT THIS SHIT OUT!

I agree. While we're at it, let us disband the military until all the waste there gets sorted out.

Pentagon Defense Logistic Agency Wastes $7 Billion By Ordering Unnecessary Supplies - ABC News

 

[chanel]

Warning: Could induce vomiting.

Millionaires are now legally entitled to collect food stamps as long as they have little or no monthly income. Thirty-five states have abolished asset tests for most food-stamp recipients. These and similar "paperwork reduction" reforms advocated by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) are turning the food-stamp program into a magnet for abuses and absurdities.

The Obama administration is far more enthusiastic about boosting food-stamp enrollment than about preventing fraud. The USDA's Food and Nutrition Service now has only 40 inspectors to oversee almost 200,000 merchants that accept food stamps nationwide.

• Earlier this month, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel revealed that Wisconsin food-stamp recipients routinely sell their benefit cards on Facebook
• Troy Hutson, the chief of Washington state's food-stamp program, resigned in April after a Seattle television station revealed that some food-stamp recipients were selling their cards on Craigslist or brazenly cashing them out on street corners (for 50 cents on the dollar) and using the proceeds for illegal drugs and prostitution
• Thirty percent of the inmates in the Polk County, Iowa, jail were collecting food stamps that were being sent to their non-jail mailing addresses in 2009

H.L. Mencken quipped that the New Deal divided America into "those who work for a living and those who vote for a living."

James Bovard: The Food-Stamp Crime Wave - WSJ.com

 

[chanel]

New Jersey’s top watchdog finds big problems with a state program designed to help low-income families with child-care costs.

State Comptroller Matt Boxer says a just completed audit finds the child care program administered by the state Division of Family Development “is really riddled with ineligible participants, and has been the subject of overpayments for many of the children in the program…we found that 1out of every 7 children in the program are actually ineligible based on their family income – that indicates that there may be 4 thousand children statewide in the program who shouldn’t be.”

The audit makes 12 recommendations to address the deficiencies identified, including recouping misspent funds and requiring applicants to submit their income tax returns as part of the application process.

Proof of income? How dare they?

Furious right now.

 

[FA_Q2]

I'm just telling you what the Right would say- that it's socialism and an attack on the free market.

Welfare should be handled by the States, and receipt of services should be available only so long as you're participating in an approved work/employment program and/or education program/school.

In Ca, I saw a shelter right next to a center where people got 2 hot meals a day and a bag lunch, a free clinic, free haircuts, bus passes....


The problem was that they weren't required to be drug free (crack was rampant), there was no real limit to how long you could stay at the shelter or receive services at the center next door, and they did nothing to help people prepare for or find gainful employment. People got comfortable and many stayed there for years- literally- receiving services at the centre and alternating between the shelter and staying under a bridge.

With all the handouts and no responsibility, they had no reason to change.


Back in my hometown, I found a very different program. You had to show up every day at 7AM. They gave you 2 suits and you had to wear them, have your shoes shined, and be presentable. They taught you how to fill out an application and resume' so as to best represent yourself, taught people how to field questions about their criminal records and unemployment, if applicable, and required documentation proving you were actively searching for work- not just dropping off applications, but calling to find out when the mgr would be in, then going in and speaking directly to the mgr.

During this time, they helped you find an emergency shelter and connected you to resources where you could get food (not the greatest, but edible and nutritious), as well as helping you seek aid through food stamps. Upon completion of the program, depending on your performance, they would send you to a program that helped you find an apartment and, once you find a job and keep it for a bit with no sign you're going to lose it, they'd help cover move-in costs and, depending on the program you were referred to, sometimes even help you get a few pots and pans and a bed.

Then it was on you to keep everything you'd been working all this time to achieve.


those who were too lazy or not determined to change never made it 2 weeks, dropping out because they didn't want to dress nicely and actively look for a real job- they never received anything more than information and a sack lunch. Those who were really intending to change things found everything they needed to help them improve their conditions- not just a bunch of handouts, like the failure I saw in california, but a hand up.

Now THAT is a good assistance program and should be what we are modeling all assistance programs after.

 

[FA_Q2]

Look, the food stamp program is asinine the way it is currently set up. We used to watch people by the most asinine stuff with food stamps when my wife worked in sort of corner market. What the program needs is to get away from providing a cash like entitlement to an actual safety net of food. If you have ever seen how the WIC program works, it is the ideal way to run a program that is designed to provide nutritious foods to people that have a hard time affording it. Instead of some arbitrary amount of cash awarded to you it should give you actual food. X amount of fruit, X pounds of fresh vegetables, X boxes of cereals that fit in Y nutrition and so on. That would seriously cut back on the fraud and also truly help those that need food. You should not be able to purchase foods like candy bars with assistance funds but you should be able to acquire fresh fruits and vegetables. That's what you need.

 

[editec]

A New Jersey food store owner and two employees have been sentenced to prison and ordered to pay restitution for defrauding the federal food stamp program of more than $280,000.

Prosecutors say the men regularly rang up fraudulent charges on customers' electronic benefit transfer cards, giving customers part of the amount in cash and keeping the USDA's payment for the full value.

New Jersey 101.5 FM - Prison Terms For Three NJ Men in Food Stamp Fraud

$280,000 here; $280,000 there. Soon we are talking about a lot of money. NO MORE ENTITLEMENTS UNTIL THEY SORT THIS SHIT OUT!

A teller at a bank that's about two blocks from my house was embezzling money.

Clearly, the only solution is to close all banks, right?

 

[chanel]

If a good percentage of those tellers were embezzling, you could bet your ass that bank would be closed. The regulators would make sure of it.

We need more auditors. Tough penalties for fraud and maybe even rewards for whistleblowers. Those two things could pay for the extra personnel.

There was a local story a few years ago about a director of a home energy program grifting on heating assistance for herself and all her family members - none of whom met the income threshold. She was ordered to pay the money back and she kept her friggin $70,000 a year job.

 

[rightwinger]

What is more rampant in this country?

Welfare fraud or tax fraud?

 

[chanel]

You tell me. But my attitude is two wrongs don't make a right. Criminals stealing from banks should be prosecuted as fiercely as those stealing from the government. But are they?

 

[chanel]

Apparently they are not. Stealing $45K from a bank could land you in jail. But stealing from the state entitles you to back pay from your job while you are being investigated.

Two instructors who lied to the federal government about their income in order to fraudulently qualify for Section 8 subsidized housing.

Tonia Hemingway of PS 194 in Harlem and Wendy Aponte of the Amistad Dual Language school in The Bronx pleaded guilty in the separate crimes.

Education officials said they were unfit to be teachers and role models.

But disciplinary hearing officers kept them on the job — and in Hemingway’s case, ordered the DOE to give her back pay.

Hemingway admitted that over four years, she obtained $45,948 in undeserved rental subsidies.

Aponte pleaded guilty to one count of “theft of government funds.” Her license was suspended for a year, and she was ordered to pay $27,000.

Read more: Teachers drank booze in school, slapped students and stolen money from taxpayers — yet the city can’t get rid of them - NYPOST.com