Clark County collects more than $191K in public benefits fraud

Clark County collected more than $191,000 last year from residents repaying misused or overpaid public benefits, including some cases of fraud.

Last year the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services distributed a total of more than $3.25 billion in SNAP food assistance, Ohio Works First cash assistance, and child care provider subsidies statewide, according to the Clark County Department of Job and Family Services.

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Residents who mislead caseworkers or lie on a benefits application make up a small percentage of that, but the department said it takes even the smallest fraud cases seriously.

Since 2014, Clark County has recovered more than $670,000 in misspent or fraudulent public benefit payments.

So far in 2017, the county agency has collected more than $137,800 from public assistance recipients who have defrauded the programs. In March, the department reached an agreement to have close to $53,000 returned to the state — from one case.

“For a cause of that nature, there has to have been fraud going on for an extended period of time,” said Virginia Martycz, director of the Clark County Department of Jobs and Family Services.

A lot of different factors were involved in a case like that, the director said, and it takes fraud investigators some time to uncover that.

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Benefits fraud can occur in five areas — child care, food assistance, Medicaid, unemployment insurance and cash assistance. Fraud is the highest in the medical category, Clark County investigator Corey Guittar said.

To find fraud, investigators like him must do research.

“We build a case around our findings and if the amount is large enough we will refer it to our county prosecutor,” Guittar said.

From there, an agreement can be reached with the suspect or charges could be filed against them. He and Martycz declined to provide details on how the fraud is committed, including the case that resulted in a $53,000 repayment, to avoid tipping off potential thieves.

Public benefit fraud costs everyone, including the rightful recipients and the taxpayers, they said.

“That’s why we like the public to be aware that we need their help in reporting potential fraud so we can stop cases like that from growing,” Martycz said.

The county receives a small part of the money collected as an incentive in recovering funds.

To report fraud, please call Clark County Department of Job and Family Services at 937-327-1701 or visit jfs.ohio.gov/fraud.

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