Brooklyn DA: Dozens Charged In Welfare Fraud Scheme
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More than 30 people were charged Tuesday with stealing nearly a million dollars in welfare benefits from the city.
Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes says the defendants include business owners, landlords and real estate developers.
In total, about $933,000 was taken.
Hynes says the largest theft came from a woman who collected $460,000 in Medicaid benefits for herself and her two children, between 2004 and 2009.
"She applied as a single mom when in fact she was married, and her husband who was employed at a car dealership as a technician, makes over $60,000 a year. And she works at Brooks Brothers," Hynes said.
The DA says one couple collected tens of thousands of dollars worth of benefits while they had more than $2 million in the bank.
Other defendants are charged with using fake addresses, or using their Medicaid benefits to forge prescriptions.