Couple claimed welfare, lived in $1.2M home

[Alyssa]

Feds: Couple claimed welfare, lived in $1.2M home

money.msn.com/business-news/article.aspx?feed=AP&date=20111206&id=14593094



SEATTLE (AP) - A Seattle chiropractor and his wife live in a $1.2 million waterfront home and have spent the past eight years flying to Moscow, Paris, Israel, Turkey, Mexico and the Dominican Republic.

All the while, federal authorities say, the couple was collecting more than $100,000 in welfare.

Now, the U.S. attorney's office is suing David Silverstein and Lyudmila Shimonova, accusing them of filing false claims and demanding that the couple pay back more than $135,000 in federal housing assistance since 2003. Prosecutors are also seeking tens of thousands of dollars in fines.

In gaining Section 8 housing assistance, Shimonova represented that she lived alone with her two children and that her household assets were less than $5,000. Silverstein received the monthly benefits of $1,272 as Shimonova's purported landlord, the government said.

[Deleted]

surely the american welfare system must have fraud investigators, we do in england, there are people that milk the system but over here if someone was living in a house a quarter of that value then fraud investigators would be camped on their doorstep watching their every move, checking bank accounts etc.

[Alyssa]

Dec 19, 2011 16:13:04 GMT -5 @vitacat said:

surely the american welfare system must have fraud investigators, we do in england, there are people that milk the system but over here if someone was living in a house a quarter of that value then fraud investigators would be camped on their doorstep watching their every move, checking bank accounts etc.

Here in the USA the people at the Welfare offices seem to be too lazy to do much of anything these days. The address alone should have raised a red flag, but the renter (her husband) why didn't they check him out and her as well to see what their marital status were.

These two people obviously were aware they were committing fraud from the get-go. Her (the wife) renting from her husband. I say throw the book at them and 12 years a piece behind bars.

[Deleted]

Dont know if it's the same in the states as over here but over here there appears to be one law for the rich and another for the poor, with the less well off getting the shit end of the stick. Greedy politicians fiddling their expenses to the tune of thousands, when they are already loaded, and get a small fine, or if they're really unlucky max 2 years prison, out within months, if some working class dude fiddled a few thousand from their employer they'd be looking at five years and do at least 3, and have to pay compensation.

[Alyssa]

Dec 20, 2011 19:32:24 GMT -5 @vitacat said:

Dont know if it's the same in the states as over here but over here there appears to be one law for the rich and another for the poor, with the less well off getting the shit end of the stick. Greedy politicians fiddling their expenses to the tune of thousands, when they are already loaded, and get a small fine, or if they're really unlucky max 2 years prison, out within months, if some working class dude fiddled a few thousand from their employer they'd be looking at five years and do at least 3, and have to pay compensation.

So true Vitacat. The common or well know as the poor usually get the shit end of the stick every time here in America while politicians get away with their criminal activities.

I sometimes feel that we are headed toward another WAR/Revolution here in the USA. I believe the people have had pretty much enough in being taken advantage of by these crooked politicians and the 1%ers.