Rich Couple Rip Off Minnesota Welfare System While Living On $1.2 Million Yacht

Another shameful rip-off of the welfare system.

Colin and Andrea Chisholm III were living in Palm Beach, Florida on their $1.2 million luxury yacht (The Andrea Aras) all the while they were collecting public assistance from Minnesota. From 2005 to 2012 they received $165,000. Thing is, Minnesota allows up to $35,000.

They've been charged with fraud but are nowhere to be found.

More on the story here.

Remember that Seattle couple, David Silverstein and his wife Lyudmila Shimonova, back in 2011 who lived in a million dollar house while claiming welfare benefits? Are there no checks and balances when it comes to public assistance?  This is why we are going broke.

Michigan $1-Million Lottery Winner Loses Her Food Stamp Benefits

24-year-old Amanda Clayton ought to be ashamed of herself. So should her mother Euline.  Last September the young mother of two hit the jackpot when she won the $1-million dollar Michigan lottery. Granted her winnings dwindled to about half of that when she chose to take the money in a lump sum (less taxes), but that's still a hefty sum for an unemployed mom.  She immediately purchased a second house and a new car. But what Amanda didn't do was notify the Michigan Department of Human Services that she now no longer qualified for her $200.00 per month food stamp allotment, because, well, she thought she deserved it because she still had bills to pay.  According to an interview with Amanda on Detroit Local 4 TV station, she thought the state would cut her off, but since they didn't she figured it would be okay since she wasn't working. After all, she now has two houses to deal with. Amanda doesn't seem to think there's anything wrong with continuing to collect food stamps even though she has a tidy sum in the bank, two houses, and a brand new car. No- because she has that typical feeling of entitlement that many 99%ers have, the classic 'the government owes me mentality.' 

And mama, Euline?  She won't comment on whether  what her daughter did  was right or wrong, although she did say "... it‘s nobody’s business if she’s not breaking the law.”

Well, as it turns out, it is against the law, and after much outrage Amanda is no longer receiving those food stamp benefits.   In fact, anti-fraud officials are on the case.



Bilking the government isn't anything new, it happens all the time in some form or another, and to a greater or lesser degree. Unlike the Seattle couple that were living in their $1.2 million house and collecting a lot more in welfare subsidies than the paltry $200.00 per month Amanda was getting for her food stamps, willfully stealing from the state is stealing from you and me, and that makes me angry.

"DHS relies on clients being forthcoming about their actual financial status,” Department of Human Services Director Maura D. Corrigan said in a prepared statement. “If they are not, and continue to accept benefits, they may face criminal investigation and be required to pay back those benefits.”

Seattle Couple Live In 1.2 Million House While Claiming Welfare

What is wrong with this picture?

While 39-year-old Rachelle  Grimmer (a woman in Texas) shoots her two kids and then herself at a Laredo welfare office because she was refused food stamps, a couple in Seattle have been living in a 1.2  million dollar waterfront home, on welfare since 2003.

Grimmer had recently moved to Texas from a small town in Ohio, and had desperately sought food stamps for herself, 10-year-old Timothy and 12-year-old Ramie. When she first applied in July, she was  denied because she apparently did not furnish enough information to qualify.  Stephanie Goodman, of the Texas Department of Health and Human Services, was not aware of what the missing paperwork was, but with an 18-page application form it could have been anything. Applicants must also provide proof of residency and employment.  There are no details about a husband, or why she left Ohio to begin with, but the woman was obviously distraught and desperate enough to hole up in a government building for 7 hours and then shoot both of her kids and then herself. The kids are in critical condition.

There are some people who need and should get help, even if it's for a short time to help them get back on their feet. And then there are those who successfully cheat the system and get away with it for years, like the Seattle chiropractor David Silverstein and his wife Lyudmila Shimonova.  Lyudmila and the doc hatched an elaborate plan to cheat the government out of over $1,200 a month in housing assistance, welfare, food stamps and other benefits. For over 8 years.  Lyudmila applied for the assistance as a single mother of two with few assets.  Her hubby, pretending to be the landlord, received the $1,272 rent checks every month. Why no-one questioned why a so-called 'welfare' mom was living in a house worth 1.2 million dollars is baffling.  That only happens in England. 

While the couple apparently did give to charity, they also took trips to places like Turkey, Moscow, Paris, Dominican Republic, Israel and Mexico. Then there's that black jag that the doc drives, sitting in the driveway of that lovely, expensive house on the water. According to one of the comments in this article, ironically,  the house is located next to a very impoverished neighbourhood.  The doc owns his own practice, Seward Park Chiropractic Center, and says he is "happily married with two children, whose careers are in medicine and Middle Eastern studies." I guess their university studies were provided by the government courtesy of  the U.S. taxpayers.  He goes on to say: "As a family, we all enjoy snow shoeing, mountain climbing and ocean sports."  Maybe he should add "and bilking the U.S. government out of thousands" to his bio.

There's no doubt they are married and thankfully their criminal activity has finally caught up with them.  Although not charged with a crime, per se, the Attorney General's office is suing them to recoup the stolen monies along with various fines. I'm not sure why they are not being charged, because one would think that defrauding the government would be a criminal offense.

There is something desperately wrong with a system that denies some measly monthly food stamps to a Texan mother in need, and provides people who have no need with thousands per month through fraudulent means.  It's truly shameful.

UPDATE 12/10/11: 12-year-old Ramie Grimmer died of her wounds on Wednesday.  She had posted to her Facebook, just before she was shot by her mother "May die 2day". According to Grimmer's mother-in-law, she had a history of mental instability.