Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, October 13, 1994 TAG: 9410130049
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The swimming pool she put in her boyfriend's back yard was one of them.
And then there was the van she bought for herself, the vacation she took to Florida and the various clothes and sporting goods she purchased - all while receiving public assistance.
Elkins, 38, of Vinton, pleaded no contest Wednesday to welfare fraud during a hearing in Roanoke County Circuit Court. Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Mark Claytor said it was the county's largest case of its kind in at least 10 years.
Elkins is just a small part of a growing national problem. Last year, thousands of Americans received $1.8 billion in food stamp benefits to which they were not entitled - a record loss that the Agriculture Department attributed to mistakes and fraud.
In Roanoke County, about a half-dozen such cases, totaling $55,000, have been discovered since March, according to Donna Montgomery, the fraud investigator for the county Social Services Department.
Most welfare fraud cases involve people who fail to report their income on forms they fill out when requesting benefits. In Elkins' case, Claytor said, she did not report more than $10,000 she received from a settlement involving an automobile accident.
As a result, the prosecutor said, Elkins was given $30,766 in food stamps, Aid to Families with Dependent Children and Medicaid benefits to which she was not entitled from September 1992 to July 1994.
Claytor presented Judge Kenneth Trabue a detailed list of all the items Elkins had purchased - including an above-ground swimming pool, the van, and various gifts for her boyfriend and children - while she was receiving public money intended for the poor.
Authorities first learned of the case through an anonymous call to the Social Services Department. The caller complained that Elkins was driving a new van and suggested that authorities check into her income.
Many of the county's welfare fraud cases originate with anonymous telephone calls, Montgomery said. Some are from other welfare recipients upset that their friends might be getting more benefits than they are, while others are from angry citizens.
Elkins had faced four welfare fraud charges. Three counts were dismissed as part of a plea agreement reached Wednesday. She could face up to 20 years in prison when she is sentenced.
Her attorney, Patrick Buchanan of Roanoke, pointed out that "a vast majority" of the benefits Elkins received were for medical care. At Buchanan's request, Trabue agreed to withhold a finding of guilt or innocence until Elkins' sentencing hearing Nov. 10.
Elkins said she had not received any of the settlement money when she filled out her welfare paperwork in 1992. "It wasn't to intentionally defraud anyone," she told the judge.
by CNB