Thread: Tip Brings Down Family's Fraud (Illegal Alien Gets Benefits)

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonia ... xml&coll=7

Tip brings down family's fraud
A couple and their son plead guilty to faking the father's mental illness and receiving federal and state assistance

Friday, July 15, 2005
ANNE SAKER
For years, nurses determined that Sepi Paris, a Romanian immigrant, suffered from physical and mental disabilities so profound that he and his family qualified for Social Security, Medicaid, public housing assistance and food stamps.

Then a tipster alerted the government that it might want to look into the Paris family's situation, since Sepi and his wife, Maria, owned and operated a restaurant-cleaning business in Portland.

An investigation proved the tip correct, and so Thursday in Multnomah County Circuit Court, the couple and their 20-year-old son each pleaded guilty to five counts of first-degree theft and two counts of making false claims to obtain health benefits. Under a plea agreement, they will be sentenced Sept. 16 to prison time -- 13 months each for Sepi, 50, and Maria, 43, and five months for son Alin.

Assistant Attorney General Rodney Hopkinson, who prosecuted the case, described the scheme:

In the early 1990s, the Paris family lived in California. Sepi Paris applied for Social Security disability benefits, and in 1992 an evaluating nurse found Sepi "in a fetal position responding to unseen stimuli" or sitting in a corner crying and talking to himself.

Paris' application was approved, and he received about $500 a month from Social Security. A follow-up exam in 2001 determined that he was unable to care for himself and suffered from severe mental illness, possibly schizophrenia.

In 2002, the family moved to Troutdale, and based on Sepi Paris' disability, the family applied for Medicaid benefits, food stamps and Section 8 housing assistance. To give Sepi Paris round-the-clock care, his wife received $1,300 a month from Medicaid.

In July 2003, Maria Paris applied for and received Social Security disability payments, and the couple's son Alin took over as caregiver, receiving $1,681 a month.

Hopkinson said that in mid-2004, the state got an anonymous phone call that Sepi and Maria Paris worked full-time cleaning the Red Robin restaurants at Mall 205 and in Wilsonville.

As they ran down the tip, investigators learned that Sepi and Maria Paris had run a similar business in California that went bankrupt. They also came upon Sepi Paris' driver's license and several traffic tickets he had accumulated.

Investigators rented an apartment across the street from the Paris home and staffed it 24 hours a day for a week. They saw Sepi Paris walking in and out of his house under his own power. Alin Paris never showed up the whole week.

In December, the attorney general's office charged Sepi and Maria Paris with 35 counts of fraud and theft, and Alin Paris with 26 counts of fraud and theft. Thursday, Circuit Judge Jean Kerr Maurer accepted the plea agreement in which Sepi, Maria and Alin Paris each were convicted of seven felonies.

The family must pay back Medicaid $27,000, Hopkinson said, and by the Sept. 16 sentencing, Sepi and Maria Paris must repay at least $10,000 and Alin Paris $2,500. If they do not, Maurer said she would sentence each family member to as long as 10 years in prison.

Facing Maurer, Sepi Paris stood on his own two feet, spoke clear English and cried.

He is not a U.S. citizen, and after serving his sentence he could face deportation. Maria Paris is a naturalized citizen, and Alin Paris was born in the United States.

Anne Saker: 503-294-7656; annesaker@news.oregonian.com

Being an illegal alien working for cash under the table ...nice.

Having a "professional" illegal alien teach your wife how to manipulate the system to obtain taxpayer funded welfare checks, food stamps, section 8 housing, and medicare...wonderful.

The fact that the stupid gringos ALLOW us to take advantage of their great country...PRICELESS!

We need to turn this tide...NOW folks! Make a STINK in whatever state your are in. My reps in Delaware KNOW who I am now (thanks to this site, which encouraged me to be PRO-ACTIVE)! Do it...please.