Former Welfare Worker Sentenced in Tax Fraud

A former county welfare worker was sentenced to nine months in prison for filing 402 bogus income tax returns claiming $711,000 in refunds, the U.S. attorney’s office said Thursday.

Pamela Denise Williams, a former eligibility worker for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services, was sentenced Monday after pleading guilty to income tax fraud and to a separate charge of forging and cashing stolen U.S. Treasury checks.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Lisa E. Feldman said Williams, 36, of Gardena, submitted fraudulent returns in 1995 and 1996 using the names and Social Security numbers of general relief clients.

Williams, who worked for the county welfare agency from 1991 to 1997, told the judge she used relief recipients’ identities because she believed they were too poor to have to file income tax returns.

She also established numerous mail drops, including some at the homes of friends and relatives, to receive the refund checks, Feldman said.

Williams obtained more than $80,000 in tax refunds before the Internal Revenue Service caught on to her.

Williams also admitted cashing more than $20,000 worth of stolen government checks. Some of them were cashed by her daughter, Pamela Scott, 21, a teller at Bank of America. Scott pleaded guilty and was placed on probation.

In addition to sentencing Williams to prison for nine months, U.S. District Judge Robert M. Takasugi ordered her to serve six months of home detention after she is released. She also is required to pay $102,920 restitution to the IRS and Bank of America.