Thread: TX Six Valley women arrested in connection with theft of state benefits

Six Valley women arrested in connection with theft of state benefits

More than $250,000 allegedly bilked from state


Top left to right, Claudia V. Perez, Linda D. Rangel and Maria Barrera.
Bottom left to right, Marisol Saenz, Olga Alvarez and Susana Ruiz.

• Posted on Jul 5, 2015
  by Lorenzo Zazueta

Investigators with the Texas Health and Human Services Commission last week made six separate arrests in connection with the theft of more than $250,000 of state benefits that began nearly six years ago.

Claudia V. Perez, 32; Maria Barrera, 36; Linda D. Rangel, 38; Marisol Saenz, 38; Susana Ruiz, 39; and Olga Alvarez, 43, were arrested Tuesday and charged with varying degrees of theft, according to criminal complaints.

The women, who come from Edinburg, Pharr and McAllen, are accused of stealing assistance funds from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, and Medicaid, the complaints state.

SNAP provides nutrition assistance to millions of eligible, low-income individuals and families, and provides economic benefits to communities, according to the Texas Health and Human Services website.

Family size dictates how much a family may receive each month in benefits. According to the website, a family of five would be eligible to receive nearly $800 a month.

Of the six women, Perez gained the most in benefits after she received more than $12,000 in SNAP benefits and more than $88,000 in excessive Medicaid benefits during a nearly four-year period starting July 2011, according to a complaint.

State officials claim Perez provided false information to the health commission when she listed that only herself and two children were living in her home when her husband, who had an income, had also been living there, the complaint states.

READ the Complaints Here:

https://www.documentcloud.org/docume...nap-fraud.html

http://www.themonitor.com/news/local...547fa5d9d.html

http://www.alipac.us/f12/corruption-...-texas-320932/

This sentence should be repeated because I used to see this problem time and time again.

State officials claim Perez provided false information to the health commission when she listed that only herself and two children were living in her home when her husband, who had an income, had also been living there, the complaint states.

They all claimed that except for Yvette Ruiz who failed to report joint income with her husband from rental property.
https://www.documentcloud.org/docume...nap-fraud.html