GOSHEN – A total of 23
people have been charged with welfare fraud and grand larceny for illegally
obtaining over $220,000 in public assistance benefits from the Orange
County Department of Social Service. (See
photos of those arrested)
This enforcement action is the seventh one initiated by District Attorney
David Hoovler.
“Every dollar we get back is a dollar we can put back into the benefit
package of someone who really needs it and what you have to realize with
these cases these people just committed outright lies on their applications,”
he said.
To date, 185 people have been charged with welfare fraud as a result
of the enforcement actions. The total dollar amount of fraud involved
in all the cases is over $1.8 million with approximately $529,079 repaid
by criminal defendants who were charged in the enforcement actions.
Since the actions began in June 2014, the Department of Social Services
has also collected $214,201 from recipients who voluntarily paid back
benefits they received, to which they were not entitled.
In 2011, 2012, and 2013, only $12,127 was recovered as a result of welfare
fraud prosecutions, and only four defendants were charged.
The largest amount illegally secured by $36,378 by Ana Flores, 26, of
Newburgh. Sandra Bailey, 50, of Newburgh secured $34,848.One man, Saint
Martin Davilmer, 84, of Haiti, secured $19,673 in benefits. His daughter,
Prisca Laplante, 52, of Otisville, Davilmer’s daughter, secured
$19,673.
The sentence for the felony of welfare fraud and grand larceny ranges
from 1 1/3 to four years to 2 1/3 to seven years in state prison.
The sheriff’s office and Department of Social Services participated
in the investigations.
