Tag: taxes

Democrats Sue Over Cut to SNAP Benefits for Non-Citizens and Illegals

Nearly half of all households with noncitizen parents are accessing federal benefits, a category that includes both legal and illegal immigrants. The Trump administration is trying to end these programs, but Democrats are pushing back.

Democratic attorneys general from 21 states and Washington, D.C., have filed a federal lawsuit challenging new USDA guidance that they say unlawfully restricts legal immigrants’ access to SNAP benefits. The lawsuit, filed in Eugene, Oregon, argues that USDA misinterpreted President Trump’s July tax-and-spending law, which narrowed eligibility for some immigrants but still allows green-card holders to apply for food aid after a five-year waiting period.

State officials say the guidance issued on October 31 went beyond the statute by declaring lawful permanent residents who previously held refugee, asylum, or humanitarian parole status permanently ineligible for SNAP. They contend the law allows these groups to receive benefits once they adjust to permanent resident status and meet standard program requirements.

The attorneys general are asking the court to block the guidance, saying it reverses long-standing policy without a reasoned explanation and violates administrative law. They warn that states could face severe financial penalties for noncompliance, with some suggesting that their SNAP programs could be forced to shut down. They also note that USDA did not provide the required 120-day transition period, leaving states to overhaul eligibility systems immediately.

A White House spokesperson said the administration is committed to ensuring that illegal aliens do not receive benefits intended for citizens. SNAP, which serves about 42 million low-income Americans, has been at the center of several legal disputes in recent years, including battles following the lapse in benefits during the recent government shutdown. According to USDA data, refugees made up roughly 1 percent of SNAP recipients in 2023, while other non-citizens, including lawful permanent residents, accounted for about 3 percent.

However, those USDA claims severely undercut the actual number of noncitizens receiving SNAP and other benefits. USDA data from fiscal year 2022 shows that 1.465 million noncitizens received SNAP benefits, with an additional 2.2 million children living in households with noncitizens also participating in the program. These recipients include lawful permanent residents, refugees, asylees, individuals granted stays of deportation, and others. They collected a total of $4.2 billion in benefits. USDA notes that illegal aliens are not eligible for SNAP but may reside in households where other family members qualify.

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Democrat Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick Surrenders to Authorities After Allegedly Laundering $5 Million in FEMA Funds — Allegedly Bought 3.14-Carat Yellow Diamond Ring

A sitting Democratic member of Congress from Broward County, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, surrendered to federal authorities Tuesday in Miami amid explosive allegations that she orchestrated a scheme to steal and launder $5 million in FEMA COVID-19 disaster relief funds, and used a portion to bankroll her 2021 congressional campaign and purchase a luxury yellow diamond ring.

The 46-year-old Congresswoman appeared in Miami federal court in handcuffs following a 15-count federal indictment issued last week. She now faces charges including conspiracy, theft of government funds, money laundering, making and receiving straw-donor contributions, and filing false statements on her federal tax return.

According to the Department of Justice, prosecutors allege that Cherfilus-McCormick and her 51-year-old brother, Edwin Cherfilus, siphoned off $5,057,850 FEMA funds.

“The indictment alleges that the defendants conspired to steal that $5 million and routed it through multiple accounts to disguise its source. Prosecutors allege that a substantial portion of the misappropriated funds was used as candidate contributions to Cherfilus-McCormick’s 2021 congressional campaign and for the personal benefit of the defendants.

The indictment further alleges that Cherfilus-McCormick and Nadege Leblanc, 46, of Miramar, arranged additional contributions using straw donors, funneling other monies from the FEMA-funded Covid-19 contract to friends and relatives who then donated to the campaign as if using their own money.

The indictment also charges Cherfilus-McCormick and her 2021 tax preparer David K. Spencer, 41, of Davie, with conspiring to file a false federal tax return. According to the indictment, they falsely claimed political spending and other personal expenses as business deductions and inflated charitable contributions in order to reduce her tax obligations.”

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MINNESOTA MADNESS: Radical Democrat Judge Sarah West OVERTURNS Jury’s Guilty Verdict — Frees Somali Immigrant Who Stole $7.2 MILLION in Medicaid Fraud Scheme

Radical Democrat judge Sarah West, appointed by former Democrat Governor Mark Dayton, has tossed out a jury’s unanimous guilty verdict, setting free Abdifatah Yusuf, a Somali immigrant convicted of masterminding a massive Medicaid fraud ring that siphoned off $7.2 million from taxpayers.

A jury had found Yusuf guilty in August on six counts of aiding and abetting theft by swindle, following evidence that his home-healthcare company billed Medicaid for hundreds of thousands dollars in “phantom” care, padding bills for services never delivered.

Prosecutors documented that many of those funds were funneled into luxury cars, high-end clothing, and other extravagant personal purchases.

But Judge West, rather than upholding the jury’s verdict, claimed the case hinged on circumstantial evidence and offered “other reasonable inferences” for the billing irregularities, arguing prosecutors failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Yusuf was personally responsible for the fraud. She issued a judgment of acquittal.

Jurors, prosecutors, and state lawmakers were stunned. One juror told reporters he believed the evidence demonstrated “obvious guilt.” The state’s Attorney General has already filed an appeal, warning the decision undermines public trust.

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INSANITY IN ILLINOIS: Oak Lawn to PAY $825,000 to Armed Suspect Hadi Abuatelah Who Fled Police During Arrest

The small Chicago suburb of Oak Lawn has agreed to pay a massive $825,000 settlement to a convicted suspect, Hadi Abuatelah, who fled from police after a traffic stop, ran from officers, and was carrying a loaded firearm.

The incident took place in July 2022 when Oak Lawn police initiated a traffic stop after reportedly smelling marijuana coming from Abuatelah’s vehicle.

When Abuatelah, then 17, bolted from the car, officers chased him and subdued him after a foot pursuit, and when they caught him, they found a loaded pistol in his bag.

During the arrest, body-cam video shows officers punching the teen repeatedly, including more than ten blows to the head and face, while restraining him on the ground.

The teen was hospitalized for six days with a broken nose, skull and pelvic fractures, brain swelling, and other serious injuries.

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Michigan wasted millions on deceased Medicaid enrollees

Michigan made $39.9 million in Medicaid payments to deceased enrollees over a two-year period a decade ago, with a total of $249 million spent across 14 states.

This is according to a new report titled the “Welfare Walking Dead” from the non-profit the Foundation for Government Accountability, which looked at federal audit data from the Office of Inspector General, among other research.

In an exclusive interview with The Center Square, Jonathan Bain said that every taxpayer should be concerned with these findings. Bain is a senior research fellow at the FGA and authored the report.

“The average citizen should care about these findings because it’s yet another example of government waste that’s rooted in inefficiency and lack of care and precision,” Bain explained. “Every dollar that is lost to waste, fraud, or abuse is a dollar that cannot be spent to benefit the truly needy—folks like pregnant women, low-income kids, or seniors.”

Of the 14 states the audit looked at, the report found that Michigan reported one of the highest amounts of Medicaid payments to the deceased. States that surpassed it included California at $70.9 million and Ohio at $51.3 million.

Other states, including ones with much higher populations than Michigan, reported much lower Medicaid payments to the deceased. That included Florida at $26.2 million and Illinois at $4.6 million.

Bain said there is action that states can take to ensure fraud is not happening.

“States have the tools to identify these deceased enrollees,” he said. “The issue is that they either aren’t doing the proper cross checks to discover them, or their Medicaid Management Information Systems aren’t being updated to reflect that a deceased enrollee has been flagged.”

The report found that most of the states audited did not routinely enter death information into their Medicaid Management Information Systems.

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US FBI chief Patel under scrutiny for use of SWAT teams to protect his girlfriend

When Ms Alexis Wilkins, an aspiring country singer dating US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) director Kash Patel, sang The Star-Spangled Banner at the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) annual convention in Atlanta in the spring, she arrived with a formidable protective posse – a Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team from the bureau’s local field office.

The two agents, members of a specialised unit trained to storm barricaded buildings and rescue hostages, had been sent there on Mr Patel’s orders. But seeing that the event at the Georgia World Congress Center had been secured, and that Ms Wilkins was in no apparent danger, they left before the event was over, according to six people with knowledge of the incident.

She noticed. So did her boyfriend.

Soon after, Mr Patel ripped into the team’s commander, saying that his girlfriend had been left without taxpayer-funded defenders, and slamming what he saw as failure to communicate their movements up the chain of command during her time on the convention floor – where she sang and chatted with attendees, the people said.

He was concerned that Ms Wilkins, a high-profile conservative, might be attacked by people who had threatened her online.

Mr Patel’s heavy use of US taxpayer-funded resources during his first nine months on the job has contributed to growing questions inside the administration about whether it exceeds the bounds of standard practice. This includes an intense use of security to protect himself and his girlfriend.

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Louisiana Woman Gets Over 4 Years in Federal Prison for $267K Pandemic Fraud

Reha Janee Arvie, age 35, of Westwego, LA, was sentenced for Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud,  Acting United States Attorney Michael M. Simpson announced. 

Court documents say that around July 2020, Arvie defrauded, and attempted to defraud various state offices of Unemployment Insurance through the submission of about 100 fraudulent UI applications. Arvie recruited friends and family, via Facebook, to file these fraudulent UI applications. 

Additionally, Arvie filed fraudulent UI applications for herself and others, in various states including Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Indiana, Missouri, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Utah, Texas, and the territory of Guam. Arvie charged those for whom she filed fraudulent UI claims fees, ranging from $1,200.00 to $1,500.00. For example, Arvie obtained $267,612.00 in UI benefits from California’s Employment Development Department. Moreover, during the investigation, Arvie lied to federal agents during an interview.

United States District Judge Sarah S. Vance sentenced Arvie to 52 months imprisonment, followed by 3 years of supervised release and payment of a $100 mandatory special assessment fee.   

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. 

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White House rehires hundreds of employees fired by Musk’s DOGE 

Hundreds of US federal employees dismissed during Elon Musk’s cost-cutting campaign are now being asked to return to work, the Associated Press has reported.

US President Donald Trump kicked off the waste-cutting effort a month after taking office, with the initiative being led by the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk headed the department until June, when he stepped down amid mounting tensions with the president.

The reinstatement offers affect workers who previously oversaw federal office spaces, AP reported on Tuesday.

The General Services Administration (GSA), which manages government properties and acquisitions, has given the affected employees until the end of the week to decide. According to the outlet, those who accept must report back on October 6, following what has effectively been seven months’ paid leave. During that period, the GSA in some cases incurred high costs – passed along to taxpayers – for dozens of leases it had planned to terminate or allowed to expire.

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Co-Founder of Paycheck Protection Program Service Sentenced for $63M COVID-19 Relief Fraud Scheme

A co-founder of a lender service provider was sentenced to 10 years in prison for defrauding the Paycheck Protection Program by $63 million.

Court documents say that Stephanie Hockridge, also known as Stephanie Reis, 42, of Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, and previously of Arizona, co-founded Blueacorn in April 2020, purportedly to assist small businesses and individuals in obtaining PPP loans.

The U.S. Small Business Administration guaranteed the loans under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. The defendant was also ordered to pay over $63 million in restitution.

Hockridge and her co-conspirators fabricated documents, including payroll records, tax documentation and bank statements. Hockridge and her co-conspirators charged borrowers kickbacks based on a percentage of the funds received.

Hockridge and others offered a personalized service to their clients called “VIPPP” to help potential borrowers complete PPP loan applications. Hockridge recruited co-conspirators to work as VIPPP referral agents and coach borrowers on how to submit false PPP loan applications. To get more kickbacks from borrowers and a higher percentage of lender fees from the SBA, Hockridge and her co-conspirators submitted PPP loan applications that they knew contained materially false information. In total, Hockridge and her coconspirators processed over $63 million in fraudulent PPP loans.

On June 20, a jury found Hockridge guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould for the Northern District of Texas; Acting Assistant Special Agent in Charge Don Daley of the Office of Inspector General for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Western Region; and Special Agent in Charge Christopher J. Altemus Jr. of the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Dallas Field Office made the announcement.

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New Jersey Governor-Elect Mikie Sherill Threatens to Withhold Federal Taxes to Resist Trump

The incoming governor of New Jersey is threatening to withhold federal taxes from the Trump administration.

In an interview with comedian Jon Stewart, Mikie Sherill said she had thought about witholding tax dollars “all the time” and concluded that is “great idea.”

“If they’re not gonna run the programs, then what are we paying them for?” she said.

“It’s like, you know, you’re paying us for a service and they’re not delivering. So let’s stop paying for it.”

California Governor Gavin Newsom has also floated withholding tax dollars, but this turned out to be an empty threat.

“We’re assessing it, we have looked into it, and Finance is looking across the spectrum of options,” he said in an interview with Politico back in June.

“But it’s limited, because most of that distribution and transfer comes from individual taxpayers,” he continued.

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