Texas Woman Accused Of Corpse Abuse and Food Stamp Fraud

Here's another despicable case of welfare fraud. But that's not the only transgression 35-year-old Rachel Hardy-Johnson committed, Rachel and her 40-year-old husband Dondre- who owned several businesses at the time Rachel applied for food stamps as a single mother of two- was also arrested and charged with 'abuse of a corpse.' They left 7 corpses to rot, after taking money from the families for funeral services that were never performed.

And Rachel, all the while sucking the government teat for food stamps, had the gall to purchase back in 2011 and 2012, with a cashier's check (basically cash), a 2006 Hummer for $26,000, a 2008 Mercedes-Benz for $41,700 and then a 2008 Range Rover for $53,000.

It all finally caught up with her.

She could get 25 years for food stamp fraud and faces a $250,000 fine. She'll find out her fate this coming May.

Hubby (and Rachel) also face time and fines for the corpse abuse and theft.

The rest here.

Shameful, when there are people who legitimately need the food stamps.

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.

Woman Hoards 30 "Obama" Lifeline Phones Funded By The US Taxpayer

Did you know that the 'Universal Access Fee', 'Universal Service Fund', or in the case of Verizon Wireless the 'Federal Universal Service Charge' that I pay approximately $1.27 every month, supports a Federal programme that provides all those Obama phones to people in need. Now I wouldn't mind if that was truly the case, but as the following video shows, some of those allegedly needy people are actually gaming the system. The woman in the video has 30 of those 'free' Obama phones, and it appears they are easily obtainable.

Apparently, that fee each and every one of us pays every month happens to fund a programme called Lifeline which was initially created to make sure people have access to a landline phone and 9/11 service. At some point cell phones were added, and this is where it has become a huge problem.  Because they are so easy to get, many people will stockpile phones and sell the extra ones they have. In Maryland alone, the amount of people signed up for the Lifeline programme has skyrocketed from 6,000 in 2008, to 231,000 in 2011 increasing the costs from $1 million to $24 million a year in just 3 years.

Arkansas congressman Tim Griffin is trying to change that by removing cell phones from the Lifeline programme.

This is one of the many reasons this country is broke.


H/T WIOD

Romanian Who Bilked £2.9 million Gets To Stay In UK To Protect Human Rights

33-year-old Romanian gypsy Lavinia Olmazu, who spent 2 plus years in jail for bilking the British system out of at least £2.9 million, was supposed to have been deported after her release. But Olmazu will get to stay in England with her 12-year-old son after using Article 8 of the Human Rights Act to make her case. Yes, she claimed her human rights would be violated if she was sent back to Romania, and the judges concurred.

Article 8 guarantees the 'right to family life', so mum decided that since her son had spent the bulk of his life in England, and spoke little Romanian (or so she claims) they deserved to stay. All this in spite of the fact that the son was born in Romania, his biological father lives in Romania, and mum's partner-in-crime, Alin Enachi, is also Romanian.

Apparently, Olmazu

.. was employed by two London boroughs and homeless charity the Big Issue to help integrate Romanian gipsies into British society.
[snip]
She was jailed after she abused her position of trust with the authorities and Roma community to orchestrate an elaborate fraud that cost taxpayers millions – and gained her and her partner tens of thousands of pounds.

They charged £80 each to provide hundreds of immigrants from Romania with false National Insurance numbers so they could claim thousands of pounds in benefits they were not entitled to.

Armed with an NI number, their clients claimed handouts including child benefit, child tax credit, working tax credit, as well as use the NHS and other welfare services.

Under rules introduced when Romania joined the EU in 2007, Romanian immigrants cannot get a National Insurance number – which is the key to getting benefits – unless they can prove they have paid employment lined up.

Operating from their suburban home in Woodford Green, Essex, they provided 368 false NI numbers. Of these, 172 were successfully used to claim benefits resulting in fraud totalling £2.9million.

But at the time it was reported the scam could have cost taxpayers up to £10 million if all of the fraudulent documents had been used, police revealed.

Not only was she not deported, she now has a job with another charity, Media Diversity Institute, which is partially sponsored by the British government.  I wonder how long it will take her to start pilfering from that organization.

However, not everyone was thrilled with the decision to allow her to stay. The Home Office tried its best to kick her out, but was thwarted by a judge who felt the boy had the right to finish his schooling here.

The case is among the first to be considered by senior immigration judges after an attempt by Theresa May to make it more difficult for immigration criminals to stay.

In June Mrs May declared war on judges who refused to deport foreign criminals because of their human rights, saying the courts should stop allowing overseas prisoners, law-breakers and illegal immigrants to stay in Britain on the grounds that they have a right to a family life.

She promised a vote in Parliament to ram home to judges ‘what the public believe’ and persuade them ‘to take into account what Parliament has said’.

Failure by the judiciary to listen will result in new laws to curb the exploitation of the human rights legislation by foreign criminals, Mrs May said.
MPs of all parties voted unanimously in support of the stricter guidelines.

Since when do criminals have rights?  They lose their rights when they commit crimes. The Brit nanny state cares  more for the rights of criminals and freeloaders than the hard working, over taxed, British worker.

Mass. Dem Gov Patrick Vetoes Bill To Ban Buying Guns, Tattoos, Manicures With Food Stamp Card

Massachusetts's current DEMOCRATIC Governor Deval Patrick has just vetoed a bill to prevent welfare fraud in his state.  It has to do with their EBT (Electronic Benefits Transfer) card that welfare recipients are supposed to use for food. Their food stamp monthly allotment is electronically wired into their EBT account and they use the card (like a debit card) to purchase food. The operative word is "food". But do they use it for food? No. Many use it to buy anything from guns to tattoos to those nifty bejeweled acrylic nails. Well, I'm not sure about the acrylic nails, but I assume they do since the bill wanted to ban manicures, as well. Oh, and let's not forget porn. All of this, of course, courtesy of the taxpayer.

Instead of welcoming a bill that would clean up the welfare system, Patrick blasted those politicos behind the ban for "political grandstanding". Attempting to get people to use money designated for FOOD, to use for, uh, food is political grandstanding?

Republican Senator Robert Hedlund fired back:

“A lot of people in the Legislature, and a lot of taxpayers for that matter, believe there are a lot of problems with our EBT system. Some of us have worked hard to try to address those problems. Some of us actually take our jobs seriously, and to be accused of political grandstanding, I think it’s irresponsible and immature of the governor to speak that way.”

And from Republican House Minority Leader Brad Jones:

“He’s accusing us of political grandstanding. Well, I think he’s pandering to a political clientele who are in support of him and he wants to maintain that support. ... It would seem to indicate to me this isn’t something he wants to go forward.”

Ironically, the bill was cobbled together by both Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate, and "spearheaded" by Democratic House Speaker Robert DeLeo. DeLeo had nothing to say about Patrick's veto, but Democratic State Rep Russell Holmes still has faith.

“It is still something that’s very much a priority for the Legislature. Clearly we’ve gotten this far."

This is the odd thing:

His veto rejected bans on the use of EBT cards for tattoos, guns, porn, body piercings, jewelry, fines and bail. However, he left standing bans of the use of EBT cards in tattoo parlors, gun shops, casinos, cruise ships, strip clubs and adult entertainment centers, saying the independent EBT Card Commission had ruled out the idea of banning specific products “for reasons of feasibility, enforceability (and) cost.” The proposed ban on EBT use in jewelry stores, nail salons and rental centers was vetoed, however, leaving no EBT ban on their products.

What?

Hello!  "Food Stamps" should be for food. Period. Not alcohol, not drugs, not smokes, not manicures, not tattoos, not someone's pierced nipple, or bail, or titillating entertainment. For FOOD. How simple, feasible and cost effective is that?

I hope the citizens of Massachussetts are happy they voted for a Democrat who is allowing people to spend their hard-earned tax dollars on bailing others out of jail, and supporting their jewelry habit.

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.