DA'S OFFICE PURSUES, PROSECUTES FRAUD SUSPECTS.Byline: Jesse Hiestand Daily News Staff Writer It's been a year since the District Attorney's Office took over welfare fraud cases from overburdened o·ver·bur·den tr.v. o·ver·bur·dened, o·ver·bur·den·ing, o·ver·bur·dens 1. To burden with too much weight; overload. 2. To subject to an excessive burden or strain; overtax. n. 1. social workers, and prosecutions and convictions are on the way up, officials say. Forty-five cases were filed in the first four months of 1997 - 20 in April alone - compared with 28 filed from July to December of last year. ``If you commit fraud, sooner or later you're going to get caught, and we're not going to just kiss it off and just let you repay the stolen amount,'' said Deputy District Attorney Kim Gibbons Famous people named Gibbons include:
``When I came on board there was just an avalanche of cases we got hit with,'' Gibbons said, recalling the days when he was the lone prosecutor in the Welfare Fraud Unit. ``I couldn't keep up with all the cases.'' He has since been joined by another full-time prosecutor, and the two oversee eight welfare fraud investigators. They have reviewed 1,000 backlogged referrals that were pending when they took over from the county Public Social Services social services Noun, pl welfare services provided by local authorities or a state agency for people with particular social needs social services npl → servicios mpl sociales Agency, and they have filed criminal charges in 160 of those cases. Not only are prosecutors seeing a 98 percent conviction rate, Gibbons said, but the county has received an estimated $50,000 in restitution. The unit aggressively pursues welfare fraud suspects, Gibbons said. Previously, most suspects got arrested during a chance run-in with police. Now, however, the county's fraud investigators, who are certified peace officers, obtain warrants and go looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. their suspects. ``As a result, we've found that more welfare fraud defendants are turning themselves in,'' Gibbons said. ``They're calling to say, `I know there's a warrant out for my arrest and I'd like to take care of this.' '' Taking care of it can mean community service for a misdemeanor conviction or jail time for a felony. For example, a Port Hueneme Port Hueneme (wī'nē`mē), city (1990 pop. 20,319), Ventura co., S Calif., on the Pacific coast; founded 1870, inc. 1948. It has an artificial deep-sea harbor and is the site of a huge naval construction-battalion (Seabee) center. man recently pleaded guilty to a felony charge of perjury perjury (pûr`jərē), in criminal law, the act of willfully and knowingly stating a falsehood under oath or under affirmation in judicial or administrative proceedings. for understating his income on eligibility forms so he could get $7,627 in cash benefits and food stamps food stamp n. A stamp or coupon, issued by the government to persons with low incomes, that can be redeemed for food at stores. Noun 1. for his four children. Investigators found that he had reported $3,637 in annual income from his job as a general laborer, when he actually earned $19,354, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. court records. The defendant was charged with a felony because he defrauded taxpayers of more than $400. He is expected to be sentenced this month to 30 days in jail and five years of probation, including orders for him to make full restitution. |
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