STRATEGIC PARTNERS
August 22, 2002
MISHAWAKA, Ind. -- Criminal charges, suspects and dollar amounts are piling up in an ongoing investigation of an alleged scheme to plunder state welfare funds, according to a report in the South Bend Tribune.
A former caseworker at the Mishawaka office of the St. Joseph County Division of Family and Children was charged in June with the theft of more than $180,000. (See related story Indiana state worker charged with EBT fraud)
Investigators now believe the total amount is closer to $250,000, according to the Tribune.
Since June, three more charges have been filed against Seneithea K. Griffin, 29, of South Bend, including conspiracy to commit theft, welfare fraud and conspiracy to commit welfare fraud.
A second suspect, Stephanie Million, 27, was arrested Aug. 3 and charged with welfare fraud, conspiracy to commit welfare fraud and conspiracy to commit theft. She was released from the St. Joseph County Jail on Aug. 12 after posting $1,000 bond.
A warrant has been issued for a third suspect who faces the same charges as Million and is identified in court documents as Million's roommate in South Bend.
"We're still looking at other people, and I wouldn't be surprised if there's more charging done in this case," said Margaret M. Jones, St. Joseph County deputy prosecutor.
Griffin is accused of setting up numerous false welfare cases and withdrawing the benefits assigned to those accounts between October 2001 and June 2002. Court documents include two confessions signed by Griffin in which she asserts that Million extorted the money from her. Griffin claimed that the money was used to keep Million quiet about personal information that she had about Griffin.
The alleged theft involved the use of electronic benefits transfer (EBT) cards that recipients of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families may use at approved retail outlets to acquire grocery items, or at banks and ATMs to receive direct cash withdrawals.
In the written confessions, Griffin stated that she would withdraw the money from ATMs and then give the money to Million, but eventually Million had the EBT card and made her own withdrawals.
Court documents state that investigators have obtained photographs from area ATM cameras that show the third suspect and Million making withdrawals using EBT cards issued to the bogus accounts allegedly set up by Griffin.
The investigation began when a routine review of cases June 10 at the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA) in Indianapolis turned up at least nine cases in which the payee was the same person.
Griffin, who was hired as a clerk for the St. Joseph County Division of Family and Children's Services in January 1997 and became a caseworker in May 1998, had an annual salary of $21,235.
She was suspended without pay at the onset of the investigation and was officially dismissed in July, according to FSSA officials.
