OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY SCHUYLER COUNTY

Transcription

1 OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY SCHUYLER COUNTY 105 Ninth Street Unit 26 Watkins Glen, New York Joseph G. Fazzary Phone (607) Matthew C. Hayden District Attorney Fax (607) John C. Tunney Assistant District Attorneys PRESS RELEASE February 26, 2015 For immediate release In February of 2014, the Schuyler County Legislature approved the filling of an investigator s position for the Department of Social Services (DSS) which had been vacant for two years. The legislative and DSS initiative was put in place with the idea that if a full time investigator were to be placed in the Welfare Fraud Unit of DSS, that more acts of fraud would be detected and prosecuted. The result would be a significant cost savings to the county, offenders would be punished, and others would be deterred from committing fraudulent acts. The program initiated by the legislature was instituted by the Schuyler County Department of Social Services (DSS), the Sheriff s Office and the District Attorney s Office. Schuyler County Sheriff William Yessman has appointed Deputy Craig Bianco as an investigator assigned to the DSS Fraud Unit. He has been specifically trained to detect welfare fraud. The investigator works out of DSS in the Schuyler County Human Services building in Montour Falls and works hand in hand with DSS paralegal and Fraud Unit Supervisor, Tammy Brown, and Senior Welfare Examiner Dena Irby. Over the past 10 months, they have investigated 330 potential fraud cases, which have led to the arrest of 23 individuals, 79 cases being closed with benefit reductions, and 10 cases being handled via civil administration, all resulting in a cost savings to the county of over $1 million dollars. Equally important to the investigations that are being conducted are the monthly meetings held by DSS, the Sheriff s Office and the District Attorney s Office to determine what additional steps are necessary to make a case stronger or to close cases that do not warrant prosecution. These meetings are attended by Bianco, Brown, Schuyler County DA Joseph G. Fazzary, Chief Assistant District Attorney Matthew Hayden and DSS Commissioner Joanne Fratarcangelo. Below are some of the relevant statistics attributable to the program and information concerning the arrests and prosecutions that have resulted therefrom. TOTAL Investigative Referrals 330 Fraud Referrals 126 Computer Matches 112 FEDS (Front End Detection System) Referrals 92

2 Civil Adjudications 10 Total claim amount $ 18, (to be collected administratively) Cases Closed or Benefits Reduced 79 Cost Avoidance $ 701, as result of Investigative Referrals (DOES NOT include IPV sanction) Investigations Pending 32 Arrests: 23 Dollar Value $ 33, Warrants Pending 1 Resource Recovery Total Recoveries $ 265, (*Includes recoveries from liens, mortgages, tax intercepts, recoupment, etc. Not limited to fraud.) TOTAL TAXPAYER SAVINGS $1,017, ARREST DETAILS: William Clark, age 57, of County Route 23, Watkins Glen, NY Arrested: 3/20/14 Offering False Instrument for Filing Disposition: Pled guilty to Welfare Fraud 5 th Degree. Sentenced to a conditional discharge, 100 hours of community service, $1,000 fine and $252 in restitution. *Clark falsely reported income and expenses that would have made him ineligible for SNAP and Temporary Assistance benefits (Falsely received $252 in SNAP benefits) William Hunter, age 39, of Hornby Road, Beaver Dams, NY Arrested: 4/2/14 Charged with: Welfare Fraud in the 3 rd Degree Disposition: Pled guilty to Welfare Fraud in the 4 th Degree. Sentenced to 3 years probation with $3,909 in restitution. *Hunter failed to report an increase in income that would have made him ineligible for Medicaid benefits (Falsely received $ in MA benefits) Harvey O Harra, age 72, of Perry Street, Watkins Glen, NY Arrested: 5/28/14 Disposition: Pled guilty to petit larceny and was ordered to pay a $500 fine, restitution of $189, and to perform 50 hours of community service. *O Harra failed to report income that would have made him ineligible for SNAP benefits (Falsely received $ in SNAP benefits)

3 Jason Joslyn, age 28, and wife, Lisa Joslyn, age 34, of Montour Falls, NY Arrested: 6/11/14 Offering False Instrument for Filing in the 1 st Degree Disposition: Jason Joslyn pled guilty to Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the 2 nd Degree (misdemeanor). Lisa Joslyn pled guilty to Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the 1 st Degree (felony). Both paid restitution of $988 and were sentenced to conditional discharges. *The Joslyn s falsified information on their application which would have made their household ineligible for SNAP and Temporary Assistance benefits (Falsely received $988 in SNAP and TA benefits) Cameron Taylor, age 25, of N. Monroe Street, Watkins Glen, NY Arrested: 6/18/14 *Taylor is alleged to have failed to report his receipt of a large lump sum payment that would have made him ineligible for Temporary Assistance benefits (Falsely received $722 in TA benefits) Jessica Daugherty, age 36, of State Route 228, Alpine, NY Arrested: 7/15/14 Charged with: 3 counts of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the 2 nd Degree *Daugherty is alleged to have forged her landlord s signature on 3 shelter verifications. David Ostrander, age 31, and wife, Farrah Ostrander, age 37, of Magee Street, Elmira, NY Arrested: 8/7/14 Charged with: Grand Larceny in the 3 rd Degree Disposition: David Ostrander pled guilty to Grand Larceny 4 th (felony) and Farrah Ostrander pled guilty to Petit Larceny (misdemeanor). Both were sentenced to probation, community service and $6,741 restitution. *The Ostranders failed to report income that would have made their household ineligible for SNAP and Medicaid benefits (Falsely received $ in SNAP and MA benefits) Brandie Perry, age 34, of Hallock Road, Dundee, NY Arrested: 9/23/14 Disposition: Pled guilty to Petit Larceny and was sentenced to a conditional discharge restitution of $883. *Perry failed to report income that would have made her ineligible for Temporary Assistance benefits (Falsely received $ in TA benefits)

4 Ronald Havens, age 61, of County Route 15, Odessa, NY Arrested: 9/22/14 *Havens is alleged to have failed to report rental income that would have made him ineligible for Medicaid benefits (Case was denied prior to issuing benefits) Krystina Wilken, age 23, of Kelly Hill Road, Bradford, NY Arrested: 10/9/14 Welfare Fraud in the 5 th Degree *Wilken failed to accurately report income and household composition that would have made her household ineligible for SNAP benefits (Falsely received $ in SNAP benefits) Charles Gould, age 31, of Mulberry Street, Montour Falls, NY Arrested: 10/15/14 Disposition: Pled guilty to Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the 2 nd Degree and was sentenced to six months in jail with a conditional discharge. *Gould falsified his housing search log that he was required to maintain and turned it into the Department of Social Services David Raupp, age 19, of Clawson Blvd, Montour Falls, NY Arrested: 10/15/14 Disposition: Pled guilty to Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the 2nd Degree and was sentenced to a conditional discharge. *Raupp falsified his housing search log that he was required to maintain and turned it into the Department of Social Services Albert Jones, age 25, of Washington Street, Montour Falls, NY Arrested on 11/4/14 *Jones is alleged to have failed to report income and therefore received Temporary Assistance benefits he was not otherwise entitled to (Allegedly falsely received: $ in TA benefits) Lisa Clark, age 44, of 7th Street, Watkins Glen, NY Arrested: 11/13/14 Charged with: Welfare Fraud in the 4 th Degree Forgery in the 3 rd Degree

5 *Clark allegedly failed to accurately report household composition and forged a landlord signature, thus, her household received SNAP benefits that it was not entitled to (Allegedly falsely received $ in SNAP benefits) Timothy Cummings, Age 40, and his wife, Alaina Cummings, Age 36 of County Route 21, Watkins Glen, NY Arrested: 12/30/14 Disposition: Both pled guilty to Petit Larceny. They have not been sentenced as of the date of this release, but have paid $7, in restitution. *The Cummings failed to report an increase in income, and thus, received SNAP, Temporary Assistance, and Medicaid benefits they were not entitled to (Falsely received $ in SNAP, TA, and MA benefits) Richard Foster, Age 43, of State Route 79, Trumansburg, NY Arrested: 1/12/15 *Foster is alleged to have failed to report self-employment income. Connor Bolton, Age 34, of Steam Mill Road, Odessa, NY Arrested: 1/27/15 *Bolton is alleged to have failed to report income, and thereby received $194 in SNAP benefits that he was not entitled to. Peter Karpovich, age 52, and Kelly Leonard, age 48, of West Water Street, Elmira, NY Arrested: 1/20/15 Charged with: Grand Larceny in the 4 th Degree *Karpovich and Leonard are alleged to have failed to report income that rendered the household ineligible for SNAP and Medicaid benefits (Allegedly falsely received $ in SNAP and MA benefits) Chelsie Hopper, age 24, of Vanorden Street, Horseheads, NY Arrested: 1/20/15 Charged with: Grand Larceny in the 4th Degree Offering a False Instrument for Filing *Hopper allegedly failed to report an increase in income that rendered her ineligible for Medicaid benefits in the amount of $1,275.93