Welfare fraud has become a top priority for the police and prosecutors for the last several years. It’s one of the crimes aggressively prosecuted. Therefore, if you’ve been accused, you must not take the charges lightly since a conviction could lead to severe penalties, including incarceration, fines, probation, and other collateral consequences. If you’ve been accused of this crime in Santa Ana, fraud crime lawyers at California Criminal Lawyer Group can help you understand your legal options and defend you. We know the welfare fraud law, which will help us fight to obtain the best possible outcome for you.

Defining Welfare Fraud

You commit welfare fraud when you make a false statement or leave out critical info when applying to be included in any public welfare program to receive benefits to which you aren’t otherwise entitled.

Welfare generally means public aid programs designed to assist the underemployed and unemployed. The state’s welfare programs include:

  • California Work Opportunities and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs), formerly called (ADFC) Aid to Families with Dependent Childre This is California’s major benefit program. It provides immediate short-term money aid for low-income families requiring assistance with medical care, utilities, food, clothing, or housing.
  • Medi-Cal— this is the state’s Medicaid program. It provides public health insurance coverage for children and low-income grownups. Despite Medi-Cal being a form of welfare benefit, Medi-Cal fraud is charged under a separate law
  • General Relief or General Assistance (GR/GA— provides help to impoverished adults who aren’t assisted by other public help programs
  • GAIN (Greater Avenues for Independence)— provides compulsory support to members of CalWORKs to assist them in securing employment, stay employed, and be promoted to high-paying jobs)
  • In-home services— this welfare program addresses issues like:
  • Mental health (evaluation, case management, rehabilitation, and treatment for people suffering from anxiety, depression, and other related conditions)
  • Substance abuse (assessment and treatment)
  • Domestic violence (relocation and financial planning, parenting skills training, public health/medical information, and counseling services)
  • CalFresh (commonly known as the food stamp program)— this program provides monthly electronic benefits you can use to purchase food

Most CalFresh and CalWORKs benefits are distributed electronically. Essentially, these cash aids are wired to an account linked to an EBT (Electronic Benefits Transfer) card that you use more like a debit card. Food stamps and paper checks are gradually becoming obsolete.

Most welfare fraud cases are criminalized under WIC 10980. You’re considered to have broken this statute when you:

  • Intentionally provide false information or fail to give any relevant details in an effort to obtain, increase, or retain aid you otherwise don’t deserve,
  • Apply for welfare benefits under several names/by submitting numerous applications to receive multiple benefits, or
  • Use, transfer, acquire, purchase, sell, possess, alter, or counterfeit food stamps and authorizations to acquire food stamps.

What Welfare Fraud Investigators Are Interested In

Local prosecutors receive their cases of welfare fraud from numerous sources. Most local prosecution offices have welfare fraud departments in place, which are devoted to handling these crimes. The DAs receive various referrals from:

  • Public hotlines or websites that their offices provide, meant to report instances of welfare fraud
  • Local social service departments that oversee welfare benefits disbursement
  • Tip-offs received on public statewide reporting hotlines
  • Any other organization that suspects possible cases of welfare fraud

If you’ve been accused of welfare fraud, the investigator in your case will commence their investigation process by contacting you to interrogate you regarding the welfare benefits you’re currently receiving as well as the information you provided to acquire those benefits. The investigator may also interrogate your friends, family members, neighbors, and colleagues at work to gather more details that could help negate or substantiate the allegations against you.

Relevantly, unannounced witness interrogations or home visits frequently reveal further issues, like drug crimes-related proof, domestic violence, child or elder abuse, or child neglect. Consequently, agencies like Child Welfare, Family Support, Adult Protective Services, and other authorities relevant to your case could also be included in the investigations.

Once the investigation is over, and the investigator has gathered the relevant details, they’ll present them to the prosecution’s office, where the prosecutor reviews them and decides whether or not to file criminal charges.

If the DA sees there’s sufficient proof to sustain a criminal charge, they’ll bring the charges (usually under 10980 WIC and perhaps under the related sections). And if there’s no sufficient evidence, the case will be returned to the investigative stage for the investigator in charge to gather further evidence. Or, the DA can determine that there’s inadequate proof of a crime and drop the case or admit it in a welfare fraud-related diversion program.

The Crime of Welfare Fraud Takes Two Forms

In California, the welfare fraud crime is divided into two— recipient and internal welfare fraud.

Recipient Fraud

Under Welfare & Instructions Code 10980, you commit recipient fraud if you receive or illegally try receiving benefits for which you aren’t legitimately eligible. Although recipient fraud is committed in different ways, some cases are more prevalent than others. Common welfare fraud instances happen when an individual tries obtaining unlawful welfare benefits by:

  • Alleging they’re a single mother/father whereas the other parent resides at home (that is, an absent parent at home)
  • Presenting a benefits claim for the child who doesn’t live at home
  • Not reporting extra income or any other benefits they’re receiving
  • Submitting a benefits claim for ineligible/fictitious children
  • Collecting welfare benefits from two different states (California and another state)

Consider this example: Tim and his spouse apply to be included in a cash-aid program due to their supposed low income. They failed to mention that the spouse owns a recycling business and liquor store. She also drives an $80,000 luxury vehicle, shops at extravagant stores, and has nearly $100,000 in her dresser. In this case, Tim and his wife can be found guilty of welfare fraud since they failed to disclose critical information when applying for the welfare benefits.

Internal Fraud

You commit internal fraud if you’re a government employee of an agency that disburses benefits and you collect or try collecting or distributing illegal welfare benefits from the organization. In most cases, this happens when an eligible employee falsifies benefits applications for ineligible family members/friends, and they share the proceeds. An employee may make a false claim about income, create a fictitious child, or leave out facts that would disqualify their family member or friend from acquiring legitimate welfare benefits.

If you’re being prosecuted for internal welfare fraud, you won’t only be subjected to fraud charges. You’ll also face other related charges, such as embezzlement.

You are guilty of embezzlement, also called employee theft, if you illegally appropriate cash or property that someone else has placed you in charge of managing. This means if you’re a social worker who assists in controlling how benefits are disbursed or who is aware of how to evade the necessary procedures towards obtaining benefits and then embezzle those benefits, you’ll face a three-year prison sentence. If you misappropriate more than sixty-five thousand dollars ($65,000), you’ll face a maximum of four years more in prison.

Defending Against Welfare Fraud Charges

Welfare fraud is one of the offenses prosecuted aggressively in California. But despite this fact, you’re still given a chance to defend yourself. Remember, if you’re accused of a crime, the law presumes you innocent until proven guilty. If the prosecution can’t establish all the elements of welfare fraud without a reasonable doubt, you can’t be convicted under WIC 10980. You can poke holes in the prosecution’s evidence to ensure all the elements aren’t established. There are many legal defenses you can argue with the help of your lawyer to achieve this. The most prevalent ones are:

You Didn’t Intend to Defraud

Irrespective of which fraud law you’re accused of breaking, a judge cannot find you guilty unless the prosecution can show you intended to defraud. If they cannot demonstrate that your specific intent when you acted was to commit fraud, the jury will have no option but to give a not guilty verdict. To prove you did not have any intention to defraud, your lawyer could assert that you:

  • Did not know you had to report an inheritance, gifts, or lottery winnings when applying for benefits
  • Believe you presented a valid claim for welfare benefits, and if there were any omissions or incorrect statements, they were unintentional
  • Merely forgot to change your status after your child became ineligible for the welfare benefits

Insufficient Proof

Say you’ve been charged with internal fraud and it’s your employer who reported you since they noticed that:

  • Documents you’re in charge of would frequently go missing
  • You had multiple duplicate files
  • You had fishy contact with benefits applicants

These pieces of evidence seem incriminating. However, they aren’t conclusive. And though the proof strongly points to the fact that you’ve been misappropriating funds, you shouldn’t be convicted of this crime without real evidence. Unless the prosecution can demonstrate that you’re guilty beyond any reasonable doubt, you have the legal right to be found innocent.

Mistaken Identity or False Accusations

This defense is effective with internal fraud accusations, though it can also apply to recipient welfare fraud. Even if there’s a legitimate claim that you violated WIC 10980, it does not necessarily imply you’re the culprit. Say you’ve been charged with internal fraud. However, if the applicant is a family member or friend, it could be they’re attempting to exploit your job position. Perhaps they presented incorrect info on their application, and since you’re close, you assumed whatever information they provided was correct and did not conduct the verification as required.

This kind of negligent act could possibly lead to your termination. However, it shouldn’t make you face criminal charges.

Alternatively, say you’ve been charged with recipient fraud due to the proof that there’s a fictitious minor on the application you submitted. It could be that your boyfriend with whom you cohabit altered the application before submitting it for you.

Or, perhaps someone else applied for the welfare benefits using your details. It could also be that you’re an identity theft victim, and you didn’t know another party was unlawfully using your details.

It could also be that you’ve been wrongfully accused of welfare fraud due to clerical errors. It isn’t news that government systems are prone to making mistakes regularly.

The main point is, several reasons can lead to you being falsely accused of welfare fraud. Despite the reason, a lawyer has the resources and inside knowledge that allows them to probe the case and establish that you’re innocent.

Restitution Agreements

Prosecutors in charge of welfare fraud cases primarily focus on recovering money for the state/county. If you’re capable of repaying a substantial percentage of or all the cash you’re accused of misappropriating, the DA will highly likely be willing to lower your charges or grant a lighter sentence.

Consider this instance: Grace is charged with welfare fraud for receiving $20,0000 cash aid while not mentioning that her husband works and lives at home. She faces felony charges. The prosecutor tells her that if she pays back $15,000, they’ll lower her charges from felony to misdemeanor, and she won’t go to jail. The court continues her case for one year to give Grace a chance to repay the money. She pays back $15,000, receives a misdemeanor conviction, and avoids incarceration.

Welfare Fraud Consequences

The punishments if you violate WIC 10980 vary depending on what provision of the law you broke. Some violations are misdemeanors and others straight felonies. There are also wobbler violations. Wobblers refer to criminal conduct that the prosecution can charge as either misdemeanors or felonies based on the defendant’s criminal history and the circumstances of the specific case.

Penalties of Different Offenses Under 10980 WIC

  1. Making False Statements

It’s a misdemeanor to make misleading or incorrect statements in an attempt to receive welfare benefits. This crime carries a six-month jail term and five hundred dollars in fines.

  1. Filing a Fraudulent Application

You’ll be subject to a wobbler charge if caught presenting a fraudulent welfare benefits application. Submitting a fraudulent benefits application entails:

  • Filing numerous applications for yourself
  • Applying for welfare benefits for a non-existent person
  • Applying for welfare benefits using false or someone else’s identity

A felony conviction carries five thousand dollars in fines and up to three years in prison. On the other hand, a misdemeanor carries up to one thousand dollars in fines and a one-year jail term.

  1. Obtaining/Retaining Welfare Benefits

Obtaining/retaining fraudulent welfare benefits is considered a misdemeanor charge if the benefits you obtained/retained were less than or equaled $950. If convicted, you’ll face a six-month jail sentence and a maximum of five hundred dollars fine. And if they totaled more than nine hundred and fifty thousand dollars, you’ll face felony charges. A conviction carries up to a five thousand dollar fine and up to three years in prison.

  1. Criminal Conduct With Respect to Food Stamps

Engaging in an act with an unapproved blank authorization for you to be included in the food stamp program is a felony. A conviction carries five thousand dollars in fines and up to three years in prison. It is, however, a wobbler to transfer, sell, use, possess, or purchase food stamp authorizations, food stamps, or electronically transferred welfare benefits illegally.

You’ll face misdemeanor charges if the food stamp authorizations or benefits are worth nine hundred and fifty dollars for less. A conviction carries a five hundred dollar fine and a jail term of six months. But if the food stamp authorizations/benefits are worth more than nine hundred and fifty dollars, the crime becomes a felony. You’ll face a five thousand dollar fine and three or two years or 16 months in prison upon a conviction.

  1. Electronically Transferred Welfare Benefits

You’ll face additional punishments if convicted of 10980 WIC violation, and the fraudulent act committed did involve electronically transferred welfare benefits. By this, it implies that apart from the standard welfare fraud penalties, you’ll face an additional, consecutive:

  • A year in incarceration where the transferred aid exceeds fifty thousand dollars
  • Two years where the benefits transferred exceed a hundred and fifty thousand dollars
  • Three years where the benefits exceed a million dollars
  • Four years where the benefits are over 2.5 million dollars

Additional Penalties

On top of the above punishments, being convicted of welfare fraud will also result in the following consequences:

  • Professional consequences if you possess a state-issued license (criminal convictions affect various professional licenses), mainly if the criminal conduct is considered a crime involving moral turpitude. Generally, fraud offenses are categorized as crimes involving moral turpitude
  • Deportation/removal if you’re a non-U.S citizen
  • You’ll be disqualified from receiving public aid benefits in the future

Restitution Rather Than Criminal Charges

There are times when a defendant can repay their fraudulently obtained welfare benefits without facing criminal charges altogether. Most California counties have welfare fraud-related diversion programs. These programs vary from one to another. But generally, they permit defendants with zero or a minor criminal history and those who haven’t embezzled so much county money the option and chance to return the money they misappropriated and, in turn, receive a charge dismissal.

First, you must plead guilty to the welfare fraud charges against you. If you finish a diversion session and return the money you obtained frequently, the charges against you will be dismissed. If you don’t, the court will pass judgment and hand down a sentence.

If the DA doesn’t want to let you return the money instead of bringing charges, voluntarily returning your fraudulently acquired benefits may persuade the judge to impose a lighter sentence.

Crimes Related to 10980 WIC Violation

Welfare fraud cases in California often involve allegations of forgery, theft, and perjury. Consequently, the prosecution may file various charges along with or instead of charges under 10980 WIC. These charges include:

PC 487— Grand Theft

PC 487 illegalizes unlawfully taking someone else’s property or property belonging to an entity that’s valued above nine hundred and fifty dollars. Property under this law includes money, land, labor, and personal property.

This means if you acquire unemployment benefits totaling over nine hundred and fifty dollars fraudulently, the DA may charge you under both PC 487 and WIC 10980. Grand theft is a wobbler offense. A felony conviction carries a maximum of ten thousand dollars fine and three or two years or 16 months in prison.

PC 470— Forgery

PC 470 prohibits knowingly creating, using, or altering any written document with fraudulent intent. This means if, for instance, you:

  • Alter or counterfeit food stamps/use the ones you’re aware are altered or counterfeit, or
  • Apply for your benefits by inputting another person’s name as the actual applicant,

The DA may opt to bring forgery charges as well. Forgery is a wobbler with a felony conviction carrying a maximum of ten thousand dollars in fines and three or two years, or 16 months in prison.

PC 118— Perjury

PC 118 perjury is considered a felony. A conviction will subject you to a maximum of ten thousand dollars in fines and four, three, or two years in prison. You violate perjury law if you intentionally give incorrect info as truthful when under oath. By this, it means, if, for instance, you apply for benefits using an untrue social security number, name, or other deliberately falsified info, the prosecutor could press perjury charges too.

PC 182— Conspiracy

PC 182 illegalizes conspiring to do a criminal act. If you plot with another party (that is, agree to join hands to carry out an illegal activity) to secure fraudulent benefits, you’ll face felony criminal charges. If convicted, you’ll face the same punishments you would be subject to for being guilty of welfare fraud. The prosecutor is most likely to file conspiracy charges along with internal fraud charges where you were arranging for illegitimate aid to be granted to your family members or friends.

Find a Fraud Crimes Attorney Near Me

If you’d like to obtain more information regarding welfare fraud laws or discuss the details of your case, contact experienced fraud crimes defense attorneys at California Criminal Lawyer Group in Santa Ana to schedule a free consultation. Our lawyers have the skill and knowledge it takes to handle welfare fraud and other kinds of fraud crime cases and obtain the best possible outcome for you. Please call us today at 714-844-4151 to know more about how we can help.