Troy Anderson reports:
At an age in which she could have received in-home care herself, Susie Claborn, 73, seemed an unlikely welfare cheat.
But prosecutors say the Pacoima woman used two identifications – belonging to her incarcerated son and her granddaughter – to fraudulently bill the In-Home Supportive Services program for $116,000.
She pleaded guilty to grand theft, identity theft and forgery and was placed on five years’ probation, ordered to perform 500 hours of community service and pay $116,000 in restitution.
Claborn was one of nearly two dozen people arrested last summer during a joint-agency sweep targeting people accused of bilking taxpayers out of more than $2.3 million in public assistance benefits. Claborn’s public defender, David Foley, did not return calls for comment.
Authorities say her case represents the kind of welfare fraud in Los Angeles County that has seen an astounding increase recently, climbing nearly 40 percent in only the past two years.
To combat the rise, county officials this month approved a new high-tech “data-mining” system designed to alert authorities to signs of possible fraud and catch cheaters and fraud rings before they bilk the government out of hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars.
Read more on Contra Costa Times.
Hat-tip, ITRC.