For five years, Wanda Thompson received food stamps and public assistance through the District’s welfare program. From February 1999 through January 2004, she claimed District residency and said she was unemployed, accepting thousands of dollars in aid from a strapped social services system.
But, as it turned out, Thompson was earning $33,090 a year at her job with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, according to the D.C. Attorney General’s Office. And she wasn’t even a D.C. resident, having moved to Oxon Hill in 1999.
Thompson was defrauding the government, and hers was one of several hundred cases of welfare swindling the District is taking through the justice system. The city, through the coordination of the attorney general and Human Services Department, has closed 408 cases of welfare fraud in a year and a half, officials announced last week, and recouped $640,209.
“Because there’s so many people in need in our city, we consistently work to ensure that people do not cheat the system in order to receive benefits fraudulently,” said Mayor Anthony Williams. “This is not only criminal but it’s also unfair to those who legitimately need this service. For too long, some people cheated the system and we did very little about it.”
Last September, Thompson pleaded guilty to four counts of fraud, received a one-year suspended jail sentence and was ordered to repay the city $12,000.
Kate Jesberg, director of the Department of Human Services, said the number of families on the District’s welfare rolls has dropped to 15,562, down from roughly 25,000 at its peak. Most of those still needing help are playing by the rules, Jesberg said, although criminals can drain the system of its scarce resources.
Deputy Attorney General David Rubenstein said his office is so busy with welfare fraud it now requires two full-time prosecutors.
The city, Rubenstein said, has 200 cases open today.
Other notable cases
» Michelle McCrae claimed District residency from 2001 to 2004, though she lived in Suitland. During that time, she received $34,416 in public assistance. She pleaded guilty to four counts of fraud, received five years’ probation and was ordered to pay $23,056.
» Heidi Fleitas received $47,951 in subsidized childcare during 1997-2002. Her household income exceeded $62,000 a year and she lived in Maryland. She pleaded guilty to two counts of making false statements, received two 90-day suspended jail sentences, and was ordered to pay $33,000.
Source: Office of Attorney General
