More Than $69 Million in State Welfare Benefits Drawn Out of State, Including on Cruise Ships. The Los Angeles Times this week continued its excellent reporting on where California welfare benefits are being withdrawn. The paper previously reported that millions in cash benefits have been withdrawn at ATM machines located in strip clubs and casinos. This week, cruise ships and vacation getaway locations were added to the list.
"More than $69 million in California welfare money, meant to help the needy pay their rent and clothe their children, has been spent or withdrawn outside the state in recent years, including millions in Las Vegas, hundreds of thousands in Hawaii and thousands on cruise ships sailing from Miami," the Times reported.
State-issued aid cards have been used in all 49 other states, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam. From January 2007 through May 2010, Las Vegas led the list, with welfare recipients withdrawing $11.8 million in Sin City. More than $16,000 was withdrawn from ATMs on 14 cruise ships sailing from ports around the world, including ports in Long Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Beijing and Miami.
"How they can go somewhere like Hawaii and be legit on aid … they can't," said Robert Hollenbeck a fraud investigator for the Fresno County District Attorney's Office. "This is money for basic subsistence needs."
John Haley of the San Diego County District Attorney's Office said 24 percent of all new welfare applications in his jurisdiction contain some form of fraud.
Advocates for the poor said there is no way of knowing whether the cards were abused by recipients, or used by people who stole the cards or found lost cards. (Source: Los Angeles Times, October 4.)
Cal-TaxReports, October 8, 2010
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