MINEOLA, New York -- Natalie Robinson was arrested on Oct. 9 and charged with grand larceny for allegedly stealing money from Nassau County welfare recipients, according to a report in Newsday.
Robinson, 23, was in charge of issuing temporary Common Benefit Identification Cards, which allow welfare recipients to access their benefits and withdraw cash from their accounts via ATMs, Nassau County prosecutors said at a news conference in Mineola.
Robinson worked for Allied Safeguard, a vendor hired by New York State to provide computer programs and personnel to operate the system.
Prosecutors alleged that after welfare recipients left Robinson's Mineola office, Robinson created duplicate cards using names of the recipients and invalidated the original cards.
While recipients waited 24 hours before the card is activated, as required by the department, Robinson used the duplicate cards she created to withdraw cash from the recipient's account.
Prosecutors alleged that between July and September, Robinson stole a total of more than $3,000 from 13 accounts.
The county will reimburse welfare recipients who lost money, according to Newsday.
Robinson's scheme was discovered by a county employee who noticed that Robinson created duplicate benefit cards for welfare clients, which is sometimes done if the cards are lost or stolen, prosecutors said. However, Robinson did not make a note of it in the handwritten log as required.
