7 DHSS workers indicted on food benefit program theft

Seven Delaware Department of Health and Social Services case workers have been indicted on charges they created fake food stamp benefits accounts for personal use or to sell, state officials announced Tuesday.

A months-long investigation by state and federal agencies revealed that the former case workers defrauded the U.S. government of more than $959,000.

"I find it especially cruel and disheartening that anyone would steal from a supplemental food benefit for personal gain and greed," DHSS Secretary Rita Landgraf said in a statement.

"We have continued to be in close contact with our federal partners and will keep working with them to strengthen the internal controls that will make it more difficult for these crimes to occur, while ensuring that red flags are raised as immediately as possible when they do," Landgraf added.

The first case of suspected fraud was discovered in December 2014 by a supervisor within the Division of Social Services who could not find the required documentation to support a benefits case during her case reviews.

DHSS’s Audit and Recovery Management Services unit and the Division of Social Services began an internal investigation immediately, said Jill Fredel, a DHSS spokeswoman. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees and funds all Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits in Delaware and nationwide, was notified in January 2015 about the investigation and provided assistance and guidance throughout the process, Fredel said.

The Audit and Recovery Management Services unit found that seven employees created more than 100 fictitious SNAP cases to procure electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards that could be used to purchase food. The EBT program is an electronic system that allows state welfare departments to issue benefits via a magnetically encoded payment card.

The Attorney General's Office also was brought into the investigation, which revealed that the fraudulent EBT cards were delivered to state service centers in New Castle and Kent counties, where they were intercepted by the suspects to be used personally or sold.

The employees were fired by DHSS between February and April 2015, Fredel said.

Two of the defendants were indicted and arrested last week, two others were indicted and remain at large, one was indicted and arrested previously and still faces charges, and two have already been convicted and sentenced, said Carl Kanefsky, a spokesman for the Attorney General's Office.

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Indicted and arrested last week were:

• Detrich Simmons-Heath, 54, of Chestertown, Maryland, is charged with theft over $100,000, first-degree forgery, falsifying business records and official misconduct. She has been released from custody after posting $6,000 bond.

• Kamilah Laws, 39, of Wilmington is charged with theft over $50,000, first-degree forgery, falsifying business records and official misconduct. She has been released from custody after posting $5,000 bond.

Indicted last week but still at large are: Jo Ellen Edwards, 61, of Felton, and Shirlene Davis, 29, of Newark, both face charges of theft over $100,000, first-degree forgery, falsifying business records and official misconduct.

Nicole Stevens, 43, of Dover, was indicted last year and arrested in November on charges of theft over $1,500, official misconduct, first-degree forgery, falsifying business records and four counts of unlawful use of a payment card for stealing $8,092. Her case is pending.

Already sentenced:

• Allison Rivera, 49, of Dover, who pleaded guilty to theft over $1,500, unlawful use of a payment card and falsifying business records. She was sentenced in April to two years probation and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of more than $27,700.

• Angelette Brown, 45, of Camden, pleaded guilty to theft over $1,500, unlawful use of a payment card and official misconduct. She was sentenced in April to two years probation, ordered to do 240 hours of community service and forced to repay the $15,957 that she took.

"This case is part of an intensified focus our office is trying to bring to fraud being committed against the state's public benefit programs," Delaware Attorney General Matt Denn said in a statement. "These arrests come as the result of an in-depth investigation, supported by many agencies.

Contact Esteban Parra at (302) 324-2299, eparra@delawareonline.com or Twitter @eparra3.