Investigators Arrest 22 Welfare Recipients

Twenty-two people accused of defrauding the county out of more than $20,000 in welfare benefits have been arrested in a series of sweeps as part of Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury’s get-tough approach to welfare fraud.

On Monday and Tuesday, investigators from the district attorney’s welfare fraud unit, working with Medi-Cal fraud agents, conducted the second of two sweeps targeting welfare recipients.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Kim Gibbons said the four-month operation, dubbed Operation Pay Back, resulted in felony warrants against people accused of fraud in obtaining county welfare benefits and food stamps.

“There are various ways to commit welfare fraud,” Gibbons said. “A person could be on welfare and have a job and not report it.” Another example is a parent who collects child support when his or her children live elsewhere.

“It’s basically some form of making money and not reporting it to the [county] Public Social Services Agency,” Gibbons said.

The agency handed over its welfare fraud investigation function to the district attorney last July, and since then, investigators have worked to target those who cheat the system, according to Bradbury.

“The welfare system is a system based on a relationship of trust between the county and needy families and individuals. Because the system was designed to aid families and individuals in need, the people who cheat the system affect those most in need and increase the burden on the taxpayers,” Bradbury said.

Anyone with information about possible welfare fraud is asked to call the district attorney’s welfare fraud hotline at 289-1990.