9 Investigates: Meck Co. debt from those who cheated DSS totals $6M

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The outstanding collective debt owed by people in Mecklenburg County who have cheated the Department of Social Services is $6 million.

In a 9 investigation, Channel 9 anchor Erica Bryant uncovered one type of fraud has more than doubled.

Investigators revealed how they are catching those responsible and what you can do to help get some of the money back.

In Mecklenburg County, DSS provides benefits to thousands in need, but the department is seeing a spike in people abusing the system.

MAP: Retailers trafficking EBT benefits

Pam Baker is an associate county attorney for Mecklenburg County sworn in as a special prosecutor to prosecute government assistance fraud.

“It's not just taxpayer monies. I feel like they are taking money away and benefits away from folks that need it,” Baker said.

Most years, the department handles about 200 fraud cases, Baker said.

This past year, that number more than doubled to 500.

In part, Baker said it is because the federal government is cracking down.

“The numbers we've gotten from the USDA has been a dramatic increase. The USDA is referring a lot more cases involving the store fraud,” Baker said.

DSS gave Channel 9 a list of 11 stores referred by the Obama Administration where store owners were involved in committing EBT or food stamp fraud.

The county's job is to go after the individual customers connected to the fraud cases at those stores.

“We're trying to identify the worst cases,” Baker said.

They include cases like Lakeisha Porter, who was ordered to pay back more than $11,000.

Baker said Porter hasn't made a payment in four years.

Nicole Aguilar still owes more than $5,000.

Sonya Douglas was found guilty of food stamp and Medicaid fraud and owes more than $3,000.

Baker said Douglas hasn't made a payment since 2008.

Julie Baldwin manages the DSS program integrity unit.

She has a team of 10 investigators who search every day looking for fraud.

“We were able to collect over $1 million back. It’s the first time since 2010 that we've had numbers that high,” Baldwin said.

They even look on social media, where people have placed ads trying to sell their food stamps.

“If you’re committing fraud, we are going to find you and we're going to get our money back eventually,” Baldwin said.

Bryant went to Douglas' home and the others looking for answers.

Bryant was not able to track them down, but DSS is vigilant and has disqualified 530 individuals for trafficking food stamps which includes selling, trading or exchanging them to get cash.

“We also have cases where individuals have bought food stamp cards and when they find there is no money on them, they will mail those in to us and report the person that they bought it from,” Baldwin said.

This year, Baldwin’s team recovered a record $1.1 million in taxpayer money.

All of the money goes back into the Mecklenburg County budget.

For those who still need to pay restitution, Baldwin said that the debt never goes away.

DSS will intercept tax returns, Social Security and even lottery winnings attempting to recover the funds.

Some suspects are reported by their employers, neighbors, friends or relatives.

To report a fraud, visit the Mecklenburg County DSS Program Integrity Unit.

Cox Media Group