LEWISTON, Maine — The indictment of five people on charges of welfare fraud Wednesday was only the tip of the iceberg, Lewiston’s police chief said Thursday.
Chief Michael Bussiere said the investigation has been under way for more than a year and there is plenty of work to be done.
“It’s not just a matter of welfare fraud,” the chief said. “A lot of that money is being used to purchase drugs. It’s taking resources away from people who really need the help. This is money that’s generated from taxes and earmarked to help those who need it. This kind of abuse doesn’t sit well with people.”
Four Lewiston men and a Waterford woman were charged Wednesday with scheming to defraud the state welfare system. In a grand jury indictment, the five were accused of buying and selling electronic benefit cards, or EBTs, that had been issued to them through the Maine Department of Health and Human Services.
According to Bussiere, swindlers buying and selling EBT cards is nothing new. It’s just one way of many to abuse the system.
The indictments Wednesday generated great debate, on the Sun Journal website and elsewhere. As is usually the case, people argue over the extent of the problem and what should be done.
“Depending on who you talk to,” Bussiere said, “it’s either an insignificant, minor problem or it’s out of control. The fact is, it’s probably neither. It’s somewhere in between. The problem is significant enough that it demands the attention of law enforcement.”
And not only cops. Police are joined by investigators from the Attorney General’s Office, DHHS and several of the state offices of General Assistance.
Bussiere did not say when or how many more charges are likely, but he did stress that others will be charged and then more after that.
“This investigation didn’t start this week,” the chief said. “It’s been going on for a year and a half. There will be more charges coming down the road.”
Police and the various agents are also not limiting their attention to the people who defraud the system. The abuse is more dynamic than that, Bussiere said. Some people are buying EBT cards and providing drugs in exchange for the benefits.
In previous years, the problem of food stamps being used as currency on the street was well-known. Now that the system has been modified, so too have the methods.
“These people,” Bussiere said, “always find a way to abuse the system.”
With EBT cards, people abusing the system have access to cash instead of food stamps. Each welfare recipient is issued one card and the benefits are replenished at the beginning of the month.
“It’s not uncommon, when we make drug-related arrests, to find a suspect in possession of more than one EBT card,” said Maine Drug Enforcement Agency Supervisor Matt Cashman.
Charged with welfare fraud Wednesday were Katherine M. Pike, 40, of Waterford; David M. Stain, 46; Manny Souza, 20; Christopher S. Frazer, 43; and Robert W. Baylor, 34, all of Lewiston.
To see more from the Sun Journal, visit sunjournal.com.
The state needs to keep finding the welfare abusers and continue to prosecute the culprits to the fullest extent of the law. This goes for recipients and providers of services.
Absolutely! If a business is found to be turning a blind eye to the fraud, they should be dealt with also!
Do Your Part to Reduce Costs by Reporting Fraud in Maine
Allegations of fraud or attempted fraud involving funds, including Food Stamps,
administered by the Department of Health and Human Services should be sent to:
Fraud, Investigation and Recovery
11 State House Station
Whitten Road
Augusta, Maine 04333-0011
Phone numbers for DHHS Fraud office are:
1-207-287-2409 and 1-800-442-6003
Further questions and suspicions can also be submitted by e-mail.
Fraud.Dhhs@maine.gov
Contact the Office of the Attorney General
Phone: 207-626-8800
Mailing Address:
Office of the Attorney General
6 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333
http://www.maine.gov/ag/contac…
Do All three, Phone, E-mail and send a Letter.
Follow-up in 30 days with a Certified letter if no response.
Send a letter Directly to the Governor’s Office, that should get their attention.
Keep a written log of actions and attempts to notify. Hold them Responsible!
This story is such an obvious plant by the Penguin administration that it almost makes me laugh.
Get serious. You and your liberal cronies would like to continue to turn a blind eye to the rampant abuse of the welfare system, all in the name that the populous should be dependent upon the government for all their basic needs. You and the rest of the liberals need to realize, we can no longer as a state and country afford the failed liberal agenda.
I hate to point out your lack of attention to detail, but the investigation has been under way for a year and a half according to the lead investigators. I checked my calender and that would mean that the investigation was started under the Baldacci administration.
I’m sure that Governor LePage will try and take full credit for this investigation but I do feel that neither Governor was even aware that it was going on. Law enforcement officers don’t usually check in with Governors offices when conducting an investigation at this level.
The truth is that there are those who do try to defraud social service programs, just like there are those who would rob a pharmacy. There will always be those who try to game the system. I doubt that this is a set-up or plant, and if I fully support prosecuting those who cheat and defraud. That said, those who do cheat and defraud are a VERY SMALL PERCENTAGE of those who utilize the social safety nets. LePage and his cabal seek to cut off the whole arm because of a hangnail on the pinky. To people like HOLMES, below, who believe that there is “rampant abuse” of the system, I challenge you to PROVE IT. Just like Charlies Webster’s “rampant voter fraud” I suspect that you will come up empty handed.
I live in Lewiston, Cranky, and I see enough welfare fraud to believe it is a problem that needs to be addressed. As tough as it is for liberals to swallow, it is not a myth.
Prove that there is not rampant abuse. Those that misrepresent income, trade EBT cards for drugs and or cash, those that claim more dependants in a household than there actually are or that the other parent is not present in the household when in fact they are, spending without regard to price or nutritional value and the list goes on, are all ways the system is being cheated and abused. Go ahead and continue to try and justify this failed liberal agenda. I ask you to just do one thing, pull your head out of the sand and look around with your eyes open, the abuse is there, all you have to do is look. As long as the people that are supposed to detect and prevent fraud in the system have a vested interest in providing more and more benefits to more and more people, it will not be changed. And that is what HOLMES has to say about that, genius.
Well said.
How about we try a few State Fraudster Catchers, and base their pay on how many convictions they get. Or, at least, pay a bonus for cases brought against the thieves. Program would pay for itself, and there would still be more resources for the truly needy.
Part of the problem here is that nobody knows how extensive welfare fraud is. You say one thing, others say another thing. Any fraud is too much fraud, because it steals not only from the taxpayers, but the people to whom it is hoped the money will flow, i.e.: those most in need. Nothing is lower than stealing, and I, for one, hope the state keeps after every last welfare thief they can catch. Prosecute; or at least kick ’em off the public teat.
Don’t put your head in the sand and call this a political campaign. Money is being stolen from the most needy in this state. The sysyem has been abused since it was put in place and shame on our legislators and administration of the day for not putting controls in place to insure it wasn’t abused.
This particular investigation has been ongoing for approx. 1& 1/2 years…..time to put up a new calendar and catch up….
He only sees what he wants to see!
The State of Maine has a terrible drug problem and there is a link between drug abuse and welfare fraud.
Welfare fraud in Maine. Say it ain’t so.
“It’s not uncommon, when we make drug related arrests, to find a suspect in possession of more than one EBT card”…..and some wonder why the state’s welfare system in it’s entitity needs to be looked at from front to back…..from dumping H2O to this reporting is why some who deserve help and assistance will suffer…..the abuse is at the taxpayer expense and must stop….do these EBT cards not have picture ID’s on them?? Oh, that’s right, some believe that requiring ID and pictures on certain things are needless and unnecessary……time to wake up and support the effort to re-define and re-distribute necessary assistance and prosecute those involved with such fraud and abuse…..Crazy…..
Gee, the government is handing out the taxpayers money and somebody is there to take it. Is there really a surprise here??
With EBT cards, people abusing the system have access to cash instead of food stamps.
Not true. People with EBT cards on TANF have access to cash as well as foodstamps. Having an EBT card does not give anyone access to cash instead of foodstamps. If they are on the foodstamp program alone then all they can get is foodstamps, not cash.