PARIS, Maine — A Rumford woman charged with defrauding the state of more than $10,000 in social service benefits will stand trial next week.
Amy L. Knowlton, 30, faces charges of theft by deception and unsworn falsification. She is accused of lying to the Maine Department of Health and Human Services by claiming she was the sole provider in her home, collecting Food Stamps, TANF and MaineCare benefits while claiming she had no other source of income.
A grand jury charges that Knowlton gave the impression that her husband, Scott Knowlton, “was not a member of the household and was not providing financial support” to her and their children. The grand jury charges that the fraud took place from October 2006 to March 2009.
If convicted, Knowlton could serve up to 11 years and owe more than $20,000 in fines.
The trial is set to begin Monday morning in Oxford County Superior Court.
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Another one bites the dust !!!!!!
Ya, only hundreds more to go before things start getting cleaned up. [Tongue-in-cheek] We need to get the Democrats back in control in Disgusta so that the State stops looking for social benefits fraud again(just like the last 30 years).
But they say it doesnt exist……
It doesn’t exist if you never discover any by looking for it and prosecuting those responsible.
Multiply this event by 1000 and this is an example of the welfare system built by the Democrats. Fraud and abuse have abounded with years of looking the other way or with token investigations.
Thank you Gov. LePage for addressing the issue head-on. Lots more work to do and lots more corruption to uncover.
http://bangor-launch.newspackstaging.com/2011/08/19/news/state/food-stamp-%E2%80%98water-dumping%E2%80%99-scam-continues/
Or the notorious bottled water dumping scam, redemption for a pack of cheap smokes no doubt.
I wonder if that’s the same Scott Knowlton that got in legal trouble and ratted out a bunch of other people and disrupted their lives so he could stay out of jail? He must have moved to Rumford for his safety and lived off the taxpayers for his brave service…….or it could be another one with the same name. Someone will correct me if I’m wrong or BDN may investigate a little deeper.
She may go to jail for defrauding the state of $10,000 but Nutting becomes Speaker of the House for defrauding the state of $1.3 million. Not saying either was right in what they did, but the punishment sure doesn’t fit the crime!! Guess it depends on whether you are rich or poor.
Nutting should be in jail.
Morally, you’re right and I agree 100%. Before Nutting was elected Speaker, I complained vigorously to my [Democratic] reps about his impending election. The only answers that I got were “what can we do? The Republicans are adamant”, which was *not* a good answer. But the laws and morality often do not coincide. Nutting slid out from under his [moral] obligation legally via the mechanisms of the bankruptcy laws.
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Let’s not forget the ones who sell their food stamps for cash to buy alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, etc. Or use their TANF to buy these things rather than provide for their family. It is a shame that the children have to suffer do to bad parents.
I say make a real good example out of her!
If you read so many posts here, welfare fraud is a fake problem created by Lepage. Why then do we continue to see these stories of fraud?
LePage payed her to actually do the fraud, shhhh top secret…….
I thought they said this never happens….LOL…
Whatever your party, there is no doubt Maine is a chronic, serious Welfare state. I Googled several articles a minute ago and found sources from the Economist to the WSJ to the Drudge Report all stating the same thing: for the last 5 years Maine has been in the top 5 states with the most citizens per capita on Welfare. Given that we’re near the bottom of all the states for population (42nd)–with less people than cities like San Antonio and San Diego–this is not a comforting statistic. While I’d never deny those who genuinely need aid the help, I don’t think there’s any doubt whatsoever that there are now generations of people who’ve grown up “in the system” in Maine and who know *exactly* how to exploit it to the last penny—we’ve all seen it!–and that definitely does need to change.
http://www.politisite.com/2011/06/13/the-moocher-index-states-with-the-most-welfare-recipients-and-the-least/
The problem I have is that we are taking these people at their WORD – why isn’t there something in place that make it simple to check SS#s or whatever that shows W2s or history of a job? Why are we taking their WORD that there is no one else living in that home – have a quick way to check who is receiving mail at that address. When I go into a bank, or to a store, or anywhere, no one takes me at my word – everything is checked and verified – same should hold true for welfare. Make the changes already.