Back in the day, when needy residents had to stand in line for a handout of food, there were the occasional tales of a person driving up to the distribution station in a Cadillac. The implication was: Why are we allowing our hard-earned tax dollars to be used to feed a person who can afford to drive around in a luxury car?

While there have been many changes in this program over the decades - surplus food gave way to food stamps and now to what is known as the SNAP - Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program - there is one thing that has not changed: There are always going to be welfare cheats trying to game the program in an effort to separate us from what we send to our state government in the form of the state income taxes and fees. Nothing makes our blood boil more than when we learn that cheats are taking advantage of our generosity and of our hard-earned tax dollars.We want to give a shout out to the state's Office of Inspector General for cracking down on these leeches, exposing them for the lowlifes that they are and underlining the support for what the office is doing to eliminate welfare fraud.In issuing its report for March and April, the department told us that they had recovered a total of nearly $540,000 from the offenders, and, in the process, knocked them off the list to get future benefits until they meet departmental regulations.Now, a half-million bucks is chump change compared to a $33 billion state budget, but it is symbolic of one effort that has been ongoing to bring these cheats to accountability."April's cases range from SNAP benefits trafficking in exchange for cash to buy heroin in Williamsport to $52,909 in combined SNAP, medical assistance and LIHEAP fraud in Warren County," said Inspector General Bruce R. Beemer. "Our investigators are zealous in pursuing all cases, regardless of the amount, because it's taxpayer money, and stopping fraud means making those benefits available to Pennsylvanians who truly need them. Every dollar of welfare fraud we catch and return to the commonwealth in restitution is a dollar that can go to a Pennsylvanian who truly qualifies for the assistance and needs it."We applaud the department, not only for making us taxpayers aware of the cheats in our midst, but for publicizing the names and home communities of the offenders. This should send a direct and powerful message to make them think twice about repeating their criminal activity and it also is intended to send a pointed message to any who are considering similar illegal moves.Of the 131 people cited in the March and April reports, 20 are from the five-county Times News area. They are: Wanderous C. Gilliam, 40, of Albrightsville, for $2,472 in SNAP fraud; Nicole A. Welch, 41, formerly of Pottsville, for $1,758 in SNAP fraud; Jamie L. Napolitano, 34, of Tamaqua, for $2,409 in SNAP fraud; Vanessa L. Miller, 29, of Tamaqua, for $1,499 in SNAP fraud; Nicole A. Welch, 41, formerly of Pottsville, for $1,758 in SNAP fraud; Laura E. Miller, 32, of Schuylkill Haven, for $6,423.64 in subsidized day care fraud.Also, Michael A. Latorre, 21 of East Stroudsburg, for $1,516.56 in cash assistance fraud. Antonia M. Waterman, 47, of Tobyhanna, for $2,051 in SNAP fraud; Walkidia Medina, 28, of Stroudsburg, for $3,087.80 in subsidized day care fraud; Keyna Lundy, 44, of Tobyhanna, for $5,078 in SNAP fraud; Shatisa Rainey, 27, of Tobyhanna, for $3,665 in SNAP fraud and $1,523.36 in cash assistance fraud; Sharon A. Sanchez, 52, of East Stroudsburg, for $1,204 in SNAP fraud and $3,145.64 in medical assistance fraud.Also, Stephanie Dezzi, 32, of Nazareth, for $3,440 in SNAP fraud; Ciarah Peters, 28, of Easton, for $5,257 in SNAP fraud; Vimary Rios, 32, of Bethlehem, for $4,954 in SNAP fraud; Brianna L. McElroy, 27, of Easton, for $1,869 in SNAP fraud; Lilisbeth M. Lopez, 28, of Allentown, for $2,573 in SNAP fraud; Barbara N. Rivera, 40, of Allentown, for $2,913 in SNAP fraud; Nancy Nunez-Gonzalez, 51, of Allentown, for $1,106 in cash assistance fraud, and Miriam V. Ocasio, 32, of Allentown, for $6,556 in SNAP fraud.Aside from getting angry and stewing about this, there is something positive you can do. If you suspect there is welfare fraud going on in your neighborhood or community, do something about it. Call the Welfare Fraud Tipline at 800-932-0582, or visit the Office of Inspector General's website at

www.oig.pa.gov. Tipsters can remain anonymous.By Bruce Frassinelli |

tneditor@tnonline.com