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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>NJ Welfare Busts
Cat Herder 10:02 AM 03-28-2018
http://nj1015.com/159-people-owing-2...welfare-busts/

"Out of the 43,571 children in Lakewood, 21,600 of them receive government benefits, according to a 2015 U.S. Census estimate. Lakewood, which has the largest average family size in the state, also has the highest number of two-parent families receiving benefits, Census records show."

"LAKEWOOD — State officials on Tuesday said 159 residents of Ocean County took advantage of an amnesty program that will allow them to avoid criminal charges by paying back $2.2 million in welfare benefits.

The amnesty program was announced last year after state and federal authorities charged 26 people with cheating public assistance programs out of more than $2.4 million. Those arrested were all from Lakewood. Many of those who faced criminal charges have been granted the opportunity to apply for pre-trial intervention, which allows first-time nonviolent offenders from avoiding prison sentence and criminal convictions.

Those who already were charged with crimes were not eligible for the amnesty program. The 159 people accepted into the Ocean County Recipient Voluntary Disclosure Program will not be eligible for Medicaid benefits for at least a year."
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Blackcat31 10:35 AM 03-28-2018
I am not sure if this warrants a or an sprinkled with a few

Its actually kind of sad when they have to create amnesty programs to manage all those people that are fraudulent.
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Cat Herder 11:56 AM 03-28-2018
It is such a weird story. I am thrilled to see people who abuse the system busted, and made to pay back, freeing up resources for people who really need them. My own community is full of it. This particular story seems to have a twisty side to it in a community that I have no life experience or understanding of. Could this truly have been a miscommunication of the religious leaders to their community to begin with? I am still digesting this one. Was hoping someone else may understand this case better.

"Two years ago, before state and federal authorities arrested 14 people this week on charges of scamming welfare benefits, prosecutors held a public meeting to warn township residents about avoiding this type of crime.

Rabbi Moshe Zev Weisberg, a member of the Lakewood Vaad, a local orthodox Jewish council serving as a bridge to other government agencies, said close to a thousand people attended a meeting in 2015 with representatives of the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office.

"They wanted to alert the community that they've come across certain issues that are of concern for us and just want everyone to be extremely careful when you're dealing with these programs," Weisberg said. "If information is misrepresented or fraudulent or something like that, there are penalties to it."

Weisberg said in the years since that meeting, leaders in the community have continued to reinforce the message.

Authorities have not explained why they had focused on Lakewood, a municipality known for its large concentration of orthodox Jewish residents.

But years later, an investigation involving a multitude of state and federal agencies resulted in the high-profile arrests Monday of four couples, including a rabbi, and the arrests on Tuesday night of three couples on charges that they collected Medicaid, food stamps, housing subsidies and other benefits from 2009 to 2015. Two of the couples who collected these benefits as late as 2014 had earned millions of dollars in annual income, the U.S. Attorney's Office said Monday.

Law enforcement officials say even more people may face charges."
- http://nj1015.com/hundreds-attended-...re-fraud-risk/
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Play Care 12:26 PM 03-28-2018
Someone I know who lives close to that area said the general belief is that they all were knowingly complicit and that they were, in fact, coached by higher up's in how to scam the system.

I saw video a few months ago of one of the arrest raids when they started getting the initial people. Crazy stuff.
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Cat Herder 12:53 PM 03-28-2018
Originally Posted by Play Care:
Someone I know who lives close to that area said the general belief is that they all were knowingly complicit and that they were, in fact, coached by higher up's in how to scam the system.

I saw video a few months ago of one of the arrest raids when they started getting the initial people. Crazy stuff.
Well, that shows how fast news travels south. Off to look for it. Thanks!
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Blackcat31 02:33 PM 03-28-2018
Originally Posted by Play Care:
Someone I know who lives close to that area said the general belief is that they all were knowingly complicit and that they were, in fact, coached by higher up's in how to scam the system.

I saw video a few months ago of one of the arrest raids when they started getting the initial people. Crazy stuff.
Sadly, this happens alot more than one would think it does.

BTDT myself... quit and am now self-employed.
(I was coached...even pushed to fill out apps for them)

I do wish there was a better system of checks and balances though.
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daycarediva 11:04 AM 03-29-2018
When I had my child at 16, when applying for WIC, the social worker actually told me that I should apply for alllllllll of these benefits. How I 'shouldn't' have to pay rent, or buy groceries. She TOLD me to quit my job because I made (a tiny) amount over the allowable income limits...and of course, NOT to claim that my child's father lived with us and contributed to bills/expenses.

NOPE.

I was SOOOO ticked. I just left. I even felt scummy using wic and we didn't beyond that/4 months.
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Tags:medicaid - fraud, subsidy, welfare - fraud
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