Wednesday, April 08, 2015

Four Charged In Welfare Fraud Scheme, Including Two Private Contract Employees

Four Indianapolis women have been charged by the Marion Co. Prosecutor's Office with welfare fraud, including two employees hired by the private contractor which administers Indiana's welfare programs, ACS/Xerox, through a local minority-owned staffing company, CFA Staffing. Leticia Falconer, an employee of CFA Staffing assigned to the SNAP program, is facing 36 felony charges for falsifying documents to illegally collect nearly $80,000 in benefits for herself and about $20,000 in benefits for two others, Debera Anderson and Asia Malone. Another employee of CFA Staffing, Laquisha Flowers, is charged with nine felony counts, accused of falsifying documents to receive $577 in SNAP benefits she wasn't entitled to receive.

An FSSA spokesman applauded FSSA's employees and the Inspector General's office for alerting authorities of the alleged criminal activity. "We are pleased that the FSSA workers did their job and reported to the proper authorities," FSSA spokeswoman Marni Lemons said. The defendants were arrested nearly a month ago. Falconer remains jailed, while the other three defendants bonded out according to The Indianapolis Star. In a highly-controversial move, the administration of former Gov. Mitch Daniels initiated the privatization of Indiana's welfare services under the leadership of then-FSSA Secretary Mitch Roob, a former executive with ACS/Xerox. IBM was the original lead contractor but was forced out so ACS/Xerox could assume total control, another costly move that has cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars in litigation expenses. CFA Staffing is owned by Teresa Carter of Indianapolis. Three Texas employees were arrested a year ago in a similar welfare fraud scheme where ACS/Xerox also administers the state's welfare services.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

ACS- wherever there is a taxpayer money scandal, they seem to be there.... think Indy downtown parking meters... I am so ashamed of the Republican Party I can no longer describe my voting affiliation as such. From the dastardly Mitch Daniels to the vacant Mike Pence to our local boob mayor... a gaggle of fools. I've learned to vote Democrat as an alternative is to invite worse into the room....

Anonymous said...

I was a victim of fraud under this with Roob and Daniels. Remember they didn't contact the victims to let them know their identity had been compromised. Waiting and watching.