24 Orange County residents were charged with stealing over $240,000 in welfare, food stamps, medicaid and other public assistance benefits.

The arrests were part of a joint effort between the Orange County Department of Social Services Special Investigations Unit, the Sheriff’s Office, and the District Attorney’s Office.

During the investigation, investigators reviewed files of public assistance benefit recipients suspected of fraud, interviewed recipients, and forwarded cases to the District Attorney’s Office for further investigation.

Investigators from the District Attorney’s Office and Sheriff’s Office interviewed many of the recipients before arresting them.

Below is a chart supplied by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office of the names of those arrested, the amount they allegedly stole, charges, and hometown:

NAMETOTAL AMOUNTBENEFITAGECHARGESPLACE OF RESIDENCE
Janine Cassisi$32,700.89SNAPMedicaid52Welfare Fraud 3Grand Larceny 3New Windsor
Nadia Jackson$30,618.00SNAP38Welfare Fraud 3Grand Larceny 3Newburgh
Maria Benetiz$27,962.00SNAPTA35Welfare Fraud 3Grand Larceny 3Middletown
Cherdale Benjamin$20,695SNAP45Welfare Fraud 3Grand Larceny 3Middletown
Lorena Ortiz$14,027.00SNAPMedicaid55Welfare Fraud 3Grand Larceny 3Cornwall
Mallory Berrios$11,558.36Medicaid25Welfare Fraud 3Grand Larceny 3Highland Mills
Belinda Newkirk$8,707.84SNAPMedicaid41Welfare Fraud 3Grand Larceny 3Newburgh
Kristen Torres$8,098.50Medicaid34Welfare Fraud 3Grand Larceny 3New Windsor
Eric Rodarte$7,897.00SNAPTA35Welfare Fraud 3Grand Larceny 3Newburgh
Shawte Ward$7,263.00TA32Welfare Fraud 3Grand Larceny 3Newburgh
Dorean Christian$6,594.23SNAPMedicaid54Welfare Fraud 3Grand Larceny 3Montgomery
Mary Beth Buttiglieri$3,891.00SNAP48Welfare Fraud 3Grand Larceny 3Cornwall
Bobby Jones, Jr.Angel Jones$3,315SNAPMedicaid39Welfare Fraud 3Grand Larceny 3Middletown
Reggie Smith$3,279.50SNAPTA20Welfare Fraud 3Grand Larceny 3Newburgh
Kelly Ann Sanchez$3,146.66SNAPTA24Welfare Fraud 3Grand Larceny 3Newburgh
Stacey Rayford$2,421.00SNAP45Welfare Fraud 4Grand Larceny 4Newburgh
David Lewis$2,036.00SNAPTA54Welfare Fraud 4Grand Larceny 4Newburgh
Chantel Russ$1,128.00SNAP27Welfare Fraud 4Grand Larceny 4Newburgh
Angelica Cespedes$2,285.00SNAP29Welfare Fraud 4Grand Larceny 4Newburgh
Patricia Richards$5,601.00SNAPMedicaid45Welfare Fraud 3Grand Larceny 3Newburgh
Katrina Thomas$3,190.49SNAP39Welfare Fraud 3Grand Larceny 3Middletown
Alber Cortez$7,080.01SNAPMedicaid47Welfare Fraud 3Grand Larceny 3Newburgh
Kim Simon-Smith$28,777.61Medicaid50Welfare Fraud 3Grand Larceny 3New Windsor

The welfare fraud investigation is the fifth since Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler, and Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus took office. Since 2014, 146 have been charged with welfare fraud as a result of the five public benefits fraud enforcement actions.

In all 5 investigations $1,547,573.49 was allegedly stolen. To date, Orange County has been repaid approximately $420,076.76 by criminal defendants who were charged in the enforcement actions.

“The over one and one half million dollars in public benefits fraud that have been discovered during the course of these enforcement actions demonstrate just how much this type of fraud costs taxpayers,” said District Attorney Hoovler in a statement.

“Cracking down on welfare fraud has been a priority since District Attorney Hoovler and I took office,” said County Executive Neuhaus. “We will continue to aggressively prosecute anyone that abuses Orange County’s social services. We will not allow anyone to cheat the system and the hardworking taxpayers of Orange County. These types of cases are a priority for us.”

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