Juggling can be described as a skill that involves the manipulation of many objects at one time. (It takes a great deal of dexterity to not drop the items being tossed around.) A story posted on Patch.com tells about a man who manipulated three government programs and got away with more than $30,000 in benefits he did not deserve.
The article states that for nearly two years, a man collected $16,763 in unemployment compensation even though he was employed as a home health aide during that time. (He also used another person’s identity to collect additional benefits for another three months.)
After he was arrested for unemployment compensation fraud, the Department of Social Services found that he also had collected Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits while being employed as a home health aide. (Again, he claimed to be unemployed even though he was working.) And to cap things off, for more than a year, he submitted false time records to Medicaid for services he did not actually perform. (He collected $9,678 from this particular scam.)
In total, the man pleaded guilty in four separate cases to unemployment compensation fraud, first-degree larceny by Medicaid fraud, making false statements to collect SNAP benefits and identity theft. He was sentenced to five years in prison with all but 21 months suspended. Following the completion of his prison sentence, he will serve five years of probation and pay $30, 545 in restitution to the Department of Labor and the Department of Social Services.
The fraudster in this case was able to create the illusion that he was not employed so he could collect benefits he did not deserve. It looks like he took his eye off the ball by becoming too greedy, and the government was able to see through the ruse. He dropped the ball and his scam came crashing down.
Source: Today’s ”Fraud of the Day” is based on an article titled, ”West Hartford Man Sentenced for Unemployment, Food Stamp Fraud,” written by Vincent Salzo and posted on Patch.com on April 10, 2015.
A West Hartford man was sentenced Friday to serve 21 months in prison for defrauding a trio of government assistance programs by fraudulently collecting unemployment compensation and food stamp benefits and billing Medicaid for work he did not do.
Troy D. Williams, 40, whose last known address was 186 South Highland Street in West Hartford, was sentenced in New Britain Superior Court after pleading guilty in four separate cases to unemployment compensation fraud, first-degree larceny by Medicaid fraud, making a false statement for the purpose of collecting Supplemental Nutrition Assistance (SNAP) benefits, and identity theft.
