9 Are Arrested in Welfare Fraud Cases

Nine Ventura County residents have been arrested on charges of illegally obtaining more than $36,000 in government aid, local welfare fraud investigators announced Wednesday.

Milton L. Suttle, chief of the investigations unit of the county Public Social Services Agency, said the suspects were rounded up over the last two months after warrants were issued for their arrests.

“We just went out on a weekly basis until we got them,” Suttle said.

Each of the nine people charged is accused of illegally receiving government support, Suttle said. Most failed to report to county officials that their circumstances and eligibility status had changed, he said.

There are 10 to 15 more suspects on the welfare investigators’ warrant list, Suttle said.

“When a person is ripping off the taxpayers . . . I would say it’s pretty serious,” Suttle said.

“It’s like biting the hand that feeds you.”

Those charged with fraud are Graciele Gonzalez, 34, Karen Johns, 35, Christine Ruvalcaba, 25, and Maria Szczygielski, 37, all of Oxnard; John Hasselbrink, 62, of Thousand Oaks; Victoria Miller, 41, of Ventura; Rick Perez, 21, and Maria Perez, 21, both of Santa Paula; and John Vivirito, 36, of Simi Valley.

The arrests come as welfare cases in Ventura County continue to increase.

More than 92,000 people--roughly one in eight county residents--receive some form of government assistance, according to the Ventura County Public Social Services Agency.