Four Cayuga Co. women arrested for welfare, tax fraud

District Attorney Budelmann announced today that on Monday members of the Cayuga County Sheriff’s Office, the Auburn City Police, the New York State Police and the Cayuga County District Attorney’s Office arrested several individuals for Tax Fraud and Welfare Fraud related cases. Key Agencies involved in these investigations were the Cayuga County District Office, Cayuga County Department of Social Services Case Integrity Division and the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. These individuals were arrested following several months of investigation into allegations that they had committed fraud and were receiving public assistance to which they were not entitled or that they had filed false tax returns in an attempt to avoid paying their appropriate share/amount of income taxes. All subjects have been arraigned by area Judges and are due back in Auburn City Court and Brutus Town Court in 2016. The following individuals were arrested shortly after sunrise-1) Susan L. King (above) of Weedsport, NY. She is charged with two counts each of Criminal Tax Fraud in the Fourth Degree (Felony) and Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the first Degree (Felony). Susan filed falsified tax returns in 2014 and 2015 and subsequently received money in the form of tax returns when in fact she owes New York State in excess of $10,400.00 in income tax.2) April K. Allen of Weedsport, NY is currently charged with Grand Larceny in the Third Degree (Felony), Welfare Fraud in the Third Degree (Felony), Misuse of Food Stamps (Felony) and Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree (Felony). April supplied the Cayuga County Department of Social Services with false information and documentation and subsequently received in excess of $15,000.00 in public assistance benefits to which she was not entitled.3) Maria A. Skiff (above) of Auburn, NY is currently charged with Grand Larceny in the Third Degree (Felony), Welfare Fraud in the Third Degree (Felony), Misuse of Food Stamps (Felony) and Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree (Felony). Maria supplied the Cayuga County Department of Social Services with false information and documentation and subsequently received over $3000.00 in public assistance benefits to which she was not entitled.4) Jennifer A. Rusaw of Weedsport, NY is charged with Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree (Felony), Petit Larceny (Misdemeanor), Welfare Fraud in the Fifth Degree (Misdemeanor) and Misuse of Food Stamps (Misdemeanor). Jennifer offered the Cayuga County Department of Social Services false information and documentation and received public assistance benefits to which she was not entitled. The Crimes Against Revenue Prosecution Unit of the Cayuga County District Attorney’s Office will be seeking to collect nearly $30,000.00 in restitution from the aforesaid individuals; that amount is in addition to the $141,430.19 restitution the unit has already collected (another $41,609 has been ordered but not yet paid) since its inception in October of 2014. Along with the collected restitution, the CARP unit has saved the Cayuga County tax payers an additional $807,191.86 in public assistance benefits that the County and State did not have to pay as a result of individuals being caught defrauding the system. The members of Cayuga County’s CARP Unit have worked hand in hand with Investigators from the Cayuga County Department of Social Services, all area Police Agencies, New York State Departments of Taxation and Finance, Worker’s Compensation and the Department of Labor. As a result, the CARP Unit has saved the taxpayers of Cayuga County approximately $942,177.90 in its first year of existence. We hope to continue this endeavor, saving taxpayers of this County even more money and ensuring that state assistance goes to those truly in need. District Attorney Budelmann stated: “We thank all of our law enforcement partners for their hard work and cooperation. We also wish to thank members of this community who have come forward and cooperated with our investigations. But we especially wish to thank the Cayuga County Legislature for the opportunity hold these offenders accountable. Without this CARP Grant through the NYS Department of Taxation and Finance and the Division for Criminal Justice, this program would not be possible.”