HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016 04-26 Maplewood woman with $2M trust fund was welfare cheat, charges say PIONEER PRESS4/27/2016 Pioneer Press - Maplewood woman with $2M trust fund was welfare cheat, charges say
Maplewood woman with $2M trust fund was welfare
cheat, charges say
By: RICHARD CHIN I rchin@pioneerpress.com
April 26, 2016 1 UPDATED: 17 hours ago
A Maplewood woman has been accused of fraudulently receiving more than $30,000 in public
assistance intended for the needy even though she had a nearly $2 million trust fund, according to
charges filed in Ramsey County District Court.
Wendy Jean Roberts, 42, was charged Monday with felonious theft by wrongfully obtaining public
assistance during a more than three-year period between September 2011 and February 2015.
The complaint said that Roberts received state medical assistance and Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program food support, formerly known as food stamps, even though she had a trust fund
with an average balance of about $2 million.
The complaint said Roberts did not disclose the existence of the trust fund when applying for the public
assistance.
When she applied for medical assistance on Sept. 29, 2011, Roberts, under penalty of perjury, said she
was not employed, that her only source of income was unemployment benefits and that she had a total
balance of only $1,516.31 in her bank accounts, the complaint said.
But investigators found Roberts actually had a trust account with cash and securities valued at
$1,930,506.40 on Sept. 30, 2011, the complaint said.
In September 2011, Roberts received dividends of $1,890.70 and made withdrawals of $3,000 from the
trust fund, the complaint said.
The complaint said that while Roberts was receiving public assistance between November 2011 and
January 2015, the trust account generated dividend and interest income totaling more than $358,000,
and there were $198,742 in withdrawals.
The complaint added, "The willfulness of Roberts' deception is also demonstrated by the way she
manipulated the balances in the accounts she did disclose."
For example, when she signed and submitted a renewal request for public assistance on Dec. 1, 2014,
she disclosed that she had a balance in one of her bank accounts of $46.45, the complaint said.
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4/27/2016 Pioneer Press - Maplewood woman with $2M trust fund was welfare cheat, charges say
But bank records show that before making that disclosure, she withdrew $5,700 from that account and
redeposited the money immediately after making the disclosure, the complaint said.
According to the complaint, Roberts received a total of $32,137.68 in food support and medical
assistance payments between September 2011 and February 2015 that she was not entitled to receive.
Roberts could not be reached for comment Tuesday. She is scheduled to make a first appearance in
Ramsey County District Court on May 24.
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