LePage: Double Number of DHHS Fraud Investigators
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Man pleads guilty to falsely claiming citizenship, getting $120,000 in benefits
By Judy Harrison, BDN Staff
Posted Oct. 17, 2011, at 2:03 p.m.
PORTLAND, Maine — A native of Antigua pleaded guilty...to myriad counts that stemmed from his false claim to be a U.S. citizen.
Besouro Abdul Zagon, 52, aka Donald Benjamin, pleaded guilty to seven charges including aggravated identity theft, passport fraud and theft of student aid, health care benefits and nutrition assistance.
By pleading guilty, Zagon admitted receiving more than $120,000 in federal aid illegally.
I"m SURE he never voted. Right?
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He pleaded guilty to obtaining false ID, and falsely claimed he, his wife, and five children were all US citizens. They've been living on the Maine dime, in Maine housing, since moving here from Massachusetts in 2001.
According to the article, none of the children will be deported. I'm curious why they're being allowed to stay here - they weren't born in the USA. They should all be deported, including the wife. I know that makes me a "heartless conservative," but given the childrens' parenting, will they simply recreate another set of welfare families?
Meanwhile, he's out on $10K bail, and will only serve some 3+ years under the plea deal.
Posted: 11:07 AM
Falmouth woman charged with growing pot
By David Hench dhench@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer
FALMOUTH — A 47-year-old Falmouth woman faces charges of trafficking in marijuana ... police seized 11 pounds, worth about $40,000, from her subsidized apartment on Depot Road.
Kellyjean Kelley is free on bail after her arrest Tuesday....Police say she had specialized lights and vents as part of a marijuana growing operation.
... workers were inspecting the apartment as part of an effort to evict her.....
Tip of the iceberg Naran , tip of the iceberg...Believe me when I tell you I've seen it first hand...Mom goes thru register with 150 bucks in food , soda and candy spent on her EBT card , boyfriend right behind with a cart load of toys and electronics worth several hundred and pays with hundred dollar bills...Seen it so many times I can't count ...
Posted: 8:56 AM
Brunswick woman convicted of stealing food stamps
By Beth Quimby bquimby@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer
PORTLAND — A Brunswick woman was found guilty of stealing $60,000 in food stamps and child care reimbursement benefits....
Sara E. Fairbanks, 40... convicted ...of stealing the benefits from January 2005 through May 2010 when she falsely told ... (DHHS)... she was separated from her husband and living alone with her children.....
Fairbanks was living with and receiving support from her husband... The income she reported was at least 70 percent lower than her actual household income, Schneider said.
Another example of that "fictional" welfare fraud we don't have in Maine.
$60,000 here, $60,000 there. Pretty soon you're talking real money! I still have not seen any of those additional investigator positions advertised for filling.
Re Brunswick Woman: a quick look at the voter list shows a Sarah Fairbanks registered in 2002, with the same residence address as a male with the last name of Fairbanks, also registered in 2002. She's about 40, he is a few years younger.
Such info might have prompted a question, don't you think? Unless it's the type of civil servants encountered by O'Keefe, who seemed motivated to explain how you could get around sticky little problems with eligibility.
Here's one to add on...a couple who gets divorced can each claim some of the dependents if more than one and in many cases in Maine this can lead to a couple living together but both claiming Head of Household AND qualifying for uch bigger earned Income Credits...I sure hope someone is looking at this to determine more than just food stamp fraud...
Last week I was behind a woman paying with EBT. She had a dark chocolate candy bar with mandarin orange pieces in it. It wouldn't scan so they had to get a price. The clerk asked her where she got the candy bar and she replied in the organic food section. My curiosity is now aroused. Clerk comes back - $3.69 for a freakin candy bar (not very big one either). It goes thru with EBT - maybe because it was organic?? What the heck? The candy bar looked awesome, but I'd never spend $3.69 for one UNLESS I WAS SPENDING OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY and got a new allotment every month - what a SWEET DEAL (no pun intended)
I may be wrong, but I doubt she would have spent almost $4 of her own money on such an item.
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After state's push, USDA unveils food-stamp fraud strategy
By David Carkhuff
Dec 07, 2011 12:00 am
Maine's ... crack down on food-stamps fraud... gained a higher profile... when a federal official outlined efforts ... to make similar inroads against waste in the program.
New "aggressive tactics" to... ward off abuse in.. (SNAP)...unveiled by Kevin Concannon, (USDA) ..Under Secretary....
...Portland native... previously served as director of the state's (DHHS)... Concannon said USDA is joining the administration’s Campaign to Cut Waste.
...snip
... John Martins, Maine DHHS... said...Gov. Paul LePage has made fraud reduction a priority.
This just in...
From Engage Maine
Dear Kevin,
Just six months into his first budget, Governor LePage and his administration have already mismanaged the Department of Health and Human Services.
Yesterday, the Governor released the details of an unprecedentedly reckless series of proposed cuts that would harm hundreds of thousands of Mainers. The cuts target the elderly, the poor, people with disabilities, and children. The cuts undermine effective anti-poverty efforts and take health insurance away from more than 60,000 people while denying tens of thousands more the support they need.
It's clear that the Governor and his administration don't understand how the department works – even when they released their plans they couldn't explain their numbers – or the impacts of the proposals on every community in Maine.
Next week, the Legislature will hold public hearings on this attack on Maine's working families. Maine Can Do Better and its partner organizations are holding a rally and press conference next Wednesday and we need you there to help us fight back against this dangerous and extreme plan that would devastate working families, kill thousands of jobs, and put our state's economy at risk.
Please join us in Augusta at the State House Hall of Flags next Wednesday, December 14th at 10 AM.
For more information on the Governor's proposed cuts to the Department of Health and Human Services, here are a couple links news stories from this morning's papers:
http://bangordailynews.com/2011/12/06/politics/65000-mainecare-recipient...
http://www.sunjournal.com/news/state/2011/12/06/it-will-have-real-impact...
See you next Wednesday,
Ben Dudley
Ben Dudley
Immediately before joining the staff of Engage Maine, Ben Dudley - Executive Director - served as Chairman and CEO of the Maine Democratic Party. Prior to that he served four terms in the Maine House of Representatives, where he sat on the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee. Ben has also held positions with several Maine non-profit organizations and political campaigns. Ben is the recipient of several awards and commendations recognizing his commitment to progressive leadership and politics both as an elected official and as an activist. Ben oversees all aspects of Engage Maine.
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In other words, a lifelong (so far) recipient of the public purse, in one form or another.
Or, an (expletive deleted) puke, in more basic terms.
But he is supported by Fair Share Weinand, his rump-swab.
Melt-down appears to be progressing apace.
....."Melt-down appears to be progressing apace"....
Good!
In a post on the Big Box Retail thread last night I linked to the story about the closing of a Walmart store in Jonquière, Que. several years ago. The reporter wrote about a gentleman who was viewing the mayhem of the going-out-of-business sale and asked him if he was there to "buy something".
""No," he replies, with a derisive snort. "I'm just here to look at the corpse."
It is one of my fondest wishes in life to someday stand in Augusta, ME and view the "corpse" of the socialism experiment that has nearly destroyed our great state!
I hope this is just the beginning of the end of it!
WC
Found this interesting story straight from the cashier's post at Scarborough Walmart. Talk about a front row seat to witness public assistance abuse!
Updated: 6:37 AM
Brunswick woman sentenced for food stamp fraud
The Associated Press
AUGUSTA — ... Brunswick woman... sentenced to ...more than year in jail for stealing nearly $60,000 in food stamps and child care reimbursement....
... 40-year-old Sarah Fairbanks was sentenced... to five years in jail, with all but 13 months suspended, three years of probation and....$60,000 in restitution.
Fairbanks was convicted last month lying on her applications to fraudulently obtain food stamps and child care reimbursement from 2005 through 2010.
My Time at Walmart: Why We Need Serious Welfare Reform
December 13, 2011 By crousselle 184 Comments
During...2010 and 2011... I was a cashier at Wal-Mart #1788 in Scarborough, Maine.... I didn’t expect ...to witness massive amounts of welfare fraud and abuse.
..... I’m not against temporary aid helping those who truly need it. What I saw at Wal-Mart, however, was not temporary aid. I witnessed generations of families all relying on the state to buy food and other items.
...snip
...Something is going terribly wrong, and the things I saw at work were indicators of a much larger problem.
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I have great admiration for this young woman, and thank her for being willing to come forward and relate what she witnessed as a cashier.
If only more would do the same.
Reader comment from the site above:
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Joe ThePimpernel says:
December 13, 2011 at 4:21 pm
I knew this was happening. I see it writ large every time I go to Walmart at the beginning of the month. Thanks for documenting it so eloquently. My guess is that you will now be visited by federal authorities accusing you of a hate crime. If so, be sure to let us know.
A friend shared this with me on Facebook so I thought I would pass it along..Eye opening at the very least and backs up what I've seen the times I have helped out on the register when it was real busy...
My Time at Walmart: Why We Need Serious Welfare Reform
December 13, 2011 By crousselle 778 Comments
During the 2010 and 2011 summers, I was a cashier at Wal-Mart #1788 in Scarborough, Maine. I spent hours upon hours toiling away at a register, scanning, bagging, and dealing with questionable clientele. These were all expected parts of the job, and I was okay with it. What I didn’t expect to be part of my job at Wal-Mart was to witness massive amounts of welfare fraud and abuse.
Scrapper accused of not reporting income on General Assistance application
By Nok-Noi Ricker, BDN Staff
Posted Dec. 15, 2011, at 3:02 p.m.
BANGOR, Maine — A local man ... getting General Assistance funds from the city was charged ... with felony theft by deception because he wasn’t reporting his revenue from gathering scrap metal...
Richard Dawes, 29, picks up scrap metal to make a little money on the side, and that’s OK, but not reporting it to the city on his General Assistance application is against the law....
Police were alerted to the crime by a caller...Dawes told the city he had zero income.
More BDN "Shoddy reporting" and "possible fraud" right on the front page of the BDN
......"Janet Bouchard has heard about the deep cuts Gov. Paul LePage has proposed to the state’s MaineCare program. ..........“If I lose my MaineCare, that’s it,” she said. “I’m on oxygen, I’ll have no way to get my oxygen, no way to get my medications, no way to go to the doctor.”.......
......"Bouchard, 55, went on MaineCare in 2008......[back injury]........shift at a Bucksport convenience store and gas station........chronic pain from that fall.........suffers from panic disorder, acid reflux, migraines and mild sleep apnea, which makes breathing difficult".......
I have to admit that I had to read this several times in order to get more of the story than the reporter provided. This lady is suffering from COPD among other things. This is an illness most often brought on by smoking cigarettes. The COPD is NOT mentioned in the article (only in very small lettering under picture #1) and neither is the pack of cigarettes and lighter on the table in picture #2.
I read all the comments to the story last night, and again early this morning. A reader with sharper eyes than I noticed the cigs and lighter. Another asked how they were feeding and caring for the dog. Cigs are around $6 a pack for those not familiar with the prices.
It is obvious that the reporter sought out these folks in order to create another in a long line of "Bash Gov LePage Stories" that have been ongoing on page 1 of the BDN, since last Jan. The reporter simply used, at face value, what the people told him without asking any questions or doing any investigating. How is that "news"? It was pointed out about the cigs and how come the reporter asked NO questions about how these people bought the cigs, cared for and fed the dog, and on and on. It was a scam from the start. And the cause of breathing problems is NOT DUE TO: The store injury, sleep apnea, chronic anxiety, acid reflux or anything else she talked about. COPD is however, a disease that makes it very hard to breathe.
How come no questions were asked about any of that?
My comments to the story:
......."In order for any reasonable person viewing this article to be able to reach any objective decision as to whether or not the needs of these folks could only be reached by this particular program, one would need to know a whole lot more about the specific case and ALL the circumstances surrounding it.
There are all kinds of reasons for SS disability to be "denied" not the least of which is a persons work history in the last 10 yrs, often "not enough work history". A few simple questions could have uncovered much of that.
A person injured on the job in 2008 could very well still be in the Workman's Comp system. If not in the system, how come? Was the case "settled" with a financial payment as they often are? Even I can come up with simple questions that should absolutely have been part of this story.
It is very clear that the reporter went out into the field with a pre-conceived notion of "documenting this need" by seeking out certain cases wherever they could be found, and investigating only enough to get the story from the family members, and taking that totally at face value, with absolutely no further investigation of any kind.
The readers are done a terrible disservice by this, and objective news reporting takes another contrived "hit" as rather than "news" it them becomes just "opinion" expressed on the front page of the paper.
A much more objective story could have been developed by picking several of these kinds of cases, and investigating them at great depth, as to just exactly what are all the circumstances these people are facing, and why, and what have THEY tried to do to help themselves.
But that would have taken far more work on the reporters part.........and would not have fit into the "anti Paul Lepage" agenda that was the desired outcome........before the story was even thought of. Even the most casual of readers would have noticed the anti-LePage bias on the front page of the BDN, ever since last January. This is just more of the same.
Our state and nation are in serious financial jeapordy as we have way more obligations to citizens than govenment will ever be able to sustain. A disaster is in the making, if we do not change how we do things. That in itself, is the MAJOR story of the hour and an invesitgation of all of that would be more pertinent than this contrived "tear jerker" is.
But that would NOT fit the liberal agenda of the BDN of course.
But I give the readers a lot of credit. I read all the comments last night around 9:00 pm and I think it is safe to say that a majority of them smelled the rat and pointed to, among other things, the shallowness of the reporters "investigation" of the FACTS of this story which quite likely might have painted an entirely different picture if they had been discovered".......
It is obvious that the Bangor Daily News is NOT INTERESTED in researching a good investigative story about the financial difficulties of the state of Maine, nor is it interested in seeking fraud when it has evidence right in front of the reporter.
It was a blatant attempt to bash the Gov and even failed at that as many of the comments were very supportive of trying to fix the mess.
WC
The BDN, and many others, practice Boo-Hoo journalism, and lobby for Boo-Hoo Economics, or if you prefer, squeaky wheel economics.
And as I believe I posted a few weeks ago, if you look at the Social Security Admin's catalog of qualifying conditions for disability, you could quickly conclude that 90% of the population, with the aid of a practiced lawyer, could qualify for payments.
Posted: December 24
Woman charged with food-stamp fraud
She allegedly defrauded the state of benefits by falsely claiming that her three kids lived with her.
Kennebec Journal
AUGUSTA —...Clinton woman...charged with defrauding the state of more than $10,000 worth of food stamps and other benefits by falsely claiming that her three children lived with her.
Theresa M. Rice-Goodrich, 32, pleaded not guilty...on a felony charge of theft by deception and a misdemeanor charge of unsworn falsification.
...snip
... indictment says... theft occurred...Jan. 1, 2006, to Aug. 31, 2011, in Kennebec County. It involved more than $10,000 worth of benefits from both food stamps and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, ....
Updating for purposes of continuity.
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7:34 AM
Police: Man wanted welfare to pay electric bill
The Associated Press
ROCKLAND — ....Rockland man lied and forged documents in an attempt to get welfare benefits...to pay a delinquent $1,000 electric bill.
... 26-year-old Jeremy Wadsworth went to the general assistance office at Rockland City Hall in an attempt to get money, falsifying information on his written application and forging a rent receipt to support the lies he made on the application.
He has been charged with forgery.
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Five indicted in welfare fraud schemes
By Christopher Williams, Sun Journal
Posted Jan. 05, 2012, at 5:04 a.m.
AUBURN, Maine — Four Lewiston men and a Waterford woman...charged...with scheming to defraud the state welfare system.
... indicted ... involved in selling or buying electronic benefit cards (EBTs) that were issued to them through the (DHHS)... or trading them for drugs. In each case, the person who had been issued the EBT card was complicit in the scheme, prosecutors said.
FROM TAXPAER: Last week I was behind a woman paying with EBT. She had a dark chocolate candy bar with mandarin orange pieces in it. It wouldn't scan so they had to get a price. The clerk asked her where she got the candy bar and she replied in the organic food section. My curiosity is now aroused. Clerk comes back - $3.69 for a freakin candy bar (not very big one either). It goes thru with EBT - maybe because it was organic?? What the heck? The candy bar looked awesome, but I'd never spend $3.69 for one UNLESS I WAS SPENDING OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY and got a new allotment every month - what a SWEET DEAL (no pun intended)
Hate to tell you Taxpayer, that's not FRAUD! I know this will make you and others BOIL but CANDY is acceptable as FOOD according to the rules. A lot of HARDWORKING FOLKS see this kind of thing go on and call it FRAUD but it's not. Once a again because of the Pucking at the HEARTSTRINGS, the LIB's who made the rules allowed this to happen. We see it every Easter when folks who live in Low Income Housing go to the Corner Stores to buy Easter Candy for the kids, which is bad enough but there is a Hannaford not more than 100 yards away and seels the same candy at a much lower price. Then there is the person in front a the HARDWORKER who buys lobster with the EBT card. Again Allowed, just not too smart. Before we can call it FRAUD it has to be FRAUD as defined by the law.
I KNOW IT PISSES PEOPLE OFF so instead of shouting this here, get on the horn to your REPS and get the RULES CHANGED. Federal though as it's a Federal Program not a State. The State abids by the Federal Rulkes to hand out the cards. Just sayin.
......."that's not FRAUD! I know this will make you and others BOIL but CANDY is acceptable as FOOD according to the rules.".......
I know that is true, and though I have seen it numerous times, I would not call it "fraud".
But here is a scenario that I have witnessed often with some variations on the same thing. One I remember clearly happened in C H Matthews General store in Cherryfield around 2008. A woman at the register had several grocery items in front of her. The clerk rang them in and gave her a total. She scanned the card and entered the PIN, presto, she had her food "necessities". But wait a minute. She reached back towards me and slid a 12 pack of Bud Lite in front of the clerk and asked for a pack of cheap cigs. Total was around $14 and change. She reached into her shirt pocket and hauled out a folded up $20 bill and handed that to the clerk. She took the change and put all of it she could into instant scratch tickets.
I am sure that none of that was "illegal" but it sure doesn't have any moral or ethical basis, and I am damn sure tired of seeing my tax dollars go to feed people so they can afford their "totally unecessary vices". Call it whatever you like in legal talk. I call it "stealing" in plain talk!
My family and I live a very low key lifestyle where we own everything we have and spend as little money as possible, thus we do not have to make much and our tax burden is nil, just the way we like it as it bothers our conscience to see what is done with our tax dollars.By paying lots of taxes we would feel that we were "approving" of what was done with it......and for the most part we DON"T. If we work hard and make lots of money then we have to pay much higher taxes and see it go to support this trashy element who are little better than rats, living off what they can steal from the rest of us.
We hope we live long enough to see those who have deliberately taken advantage of others, have to beg for a stale piece of bread to eat.
The only thing that will make that any better to watch will be to see those who wear suits and ties, and nowdays use their positions to steal hundreds of millions instead of just hundreds, have to beg for food too.
There were millions of Americans in 1929 who could not feed themselves and there are going to be a lot of them again shortly, when government finally runs out of money to steal or print.
WC
Sooooo how come all of these examples of fraudulent or wasteful spending of my taxdollars by the welfare community are perpertrated by, like....females? Is this the gender card or just the way it is?
Sooooo how come all of these examples of fraudulent or wasteful spending of my taxdollars by the welfare community are perpertrated by, like....females? Is this the gender card or just the way it is?
It's just the way it is.
Probably because babydaddy is too GD lazy to go to the store.
"Probably because babydaddy is too GD lazy to go to the store."
Another popular ruse is the gainfully employed Daddy. Dad may or may not be the biological father. No matter, Dad's name doesn't come up in the application process. The entitled Mom gets everything the system has to offer which in turn frees up a lot of Dad's wages for the better things in life. Dad gets to play hide the salami with Mom so it truly is a win-win. It's just like a two income family without all the hassles of two jobs. Mom and the kids can give you that smug look while she pays for the lobster without a care in the world.
More charges to come in Lewiston welfare fraud investigation
By Mark LaFlamme, Sun Journal
LEWISTON, Maine — ..indictment of five people on charges of welfare fraud ... only the tip of the iceberg, Lewiston’s police chief said ....
Chief Michael Bussiere said... investigation ...under way for more than a year ...
...snip
With EBT cards... recipient ...issued one card ...benefits... replenished at... beginning of the month.
“It’s not uncommon...to find a suspect in possession of more than one EBT card,” said Maine Drug Enforcement Agency Supervisor Matt Cashman.
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Posted: 12:10 PM
DHHS proposes cuts to youth, education, hospitals
By Susan M. Cover scover@mainetoday.com
MaineToday Media State House Writer
AUGUSTA — (DHHS)... will propose a series of budget cuts ... including the elimination of a program that helps at-risk youth, the elimination of the state's share of Head Start funding, and cuts to funding for hospitals.
The proposals... are scheduled to be reviewed by a panel charged with recommending at least $25 million in cuts from the state budget.
The DHHS documents posted on the state budget office website show several smaller cuts to various programs and major items.
Source
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When the inevitable howling starts regarding the proposed cuts, those who oppose the targeting of fraud and abuse need to remember -- all the money going to improper claims could have prevented these cuts.