Seven arrested for welfare fraud
ALBANY COUNTY Seven people were arrested for welfare fraud last week; the Albany County Sheriffs Department says they fraudulently received nearly $125,000 in benefits.
"The fraud that we’ve found is between 5 and 8 percent of our caseload," said David Kircher, Deputy Commissioner of Albany County Social Services. The majority of people who apply for and receive welfare benefits are truly in need, he said.
All but two of the people who were arrested were women from the city of Albany. Deanna M. Lockwood, 31, of 520 Travis Hill Rd., Rensselaerville, and Appadoo Permaul, 51, of 209 Concord Hill Rd., Guilderland, were also arrested.
Lockwood had been receiving benefits from the temporary assistance program, Kircher said. In 2006, that program provided $4.7 million to residents of Albany County, he said. Her offense "involved failure to report employment," he said. Lockwood received benefits fraudulently from March 1, 2006 to March 31, 2007, he said, because she did not report that she was working at K & D West Winds, a restaurant in Preston Hollow. She took $4,173 from the temporary assistance program and $1,397 in food stamps, a program that supplied about $23 million in benefits in 2006, Kircher said.
He wasnt sure how investigators figured out that Lockwood was cheating, but he said that the countys department of social services has several techniques for finding people who are scamming the system.
"Case workers are constantly reviewing cases," said Kerri Battle, spokesperson for the county executive’s office. Many tips about welfare fraud come in through a hotline, she said.
Permauls case manager discovered five undisclosed bank accounts, holding a total of $54,000, said Battle, which makes him ineligible for the Medicaid that he was receiving. Permaul was paid about $4,000 that he wasnt entitled to between Aug. 1, 2005 and March 31, 2006, she said.
Permaul is a reverend said Battle. He lives in a parsonage owned by Christ Family Fellowship Inc., that is assessed at $287,700, according to the Guilderland assessors office. Permaul did not want to comment before his court date, set for May 24, and Lockwood could not be reached for comment.
Penalties for fraud are usually handled by the courts, said Kircher. "Almost always, there’s restitution," he said.
