Sometimes people must find out the hard way that it’s better to tell the truth than to lie. A Yakima, Wash., woman, who is charged with theft and multiple counts of making false statements to welfare officials over five years, is the focus of today’s “Fraud of the Day” article about welfare woes.
The State of Washington’s Office of Fraud and Accountability alleges that the 33-year-old received more than $36,000 in government benefits after omitting or misrepresenting personal information that would have made her ineligible for government benefits.
Today’s article states that the Yakima woman failed to report to State officials that the father of one of her children was actually living with the family. Since one lie often begets another, the 33-year-old mother of four reported that the man was an uncle and not directly related to the four children. (The mother used government childcare assistance funds to pay her boyfriend for providing childcare.) Obviously, the boyfriend was ineligible to be paid with government funds to take care of his own child.
The ruse ended when investigators discovered the man’s employment records had the same address as the woman. Next came the confession that the “uncle” was actually the woman’s boyfriend and father of one of her children. (The truth always comes out one way or another.)
In all, the woman from Yakima allegedly received more than $16,000 in childcare assistance over four years, $5,800 in cash assistance, and $14,000 in food assistance, according to the Washington Office of Fraud and Accountability. (Sounds like a nice life. Just let the government foot the bill.)
It’s important to remember that the woman in today’s welfare fraud article has been charged with multiple types of fraud. She has not been convicted of any crime and remains innocent until proven guilty. (Unfortunately for the woman from Washington, the evidence against her is pretty strong.)
Today’s Fraud of the Day comes from the article, “Yakima woman charged with theft in welfare fraud case,” published Dec. 10, 2019 in the Yakima (Wash.) Herald.
A Yakima woman is charged in Yakima County Superior Court with theft and multiple counts of making false statements to welfare officials over almost five years.
According to court documents filed by the state Office of Fraud and Accountability, Rosa Revuelta-Torres, 33, illegally received more than $36,000 in benefits after failing to report that the father of one of her children was living with her for three years. She is also accused of not reporting his income, the documents say.
