Two Accused of Taking $16 Thousand In Welfare Fraud
Two Ulster County woman are accused of defrauding Ulster County by receiving about $16,000 in welfare benefits.
On Friday, Bonnie VanSlyke of Lake Katrine and Suzanne Valles of Saugerties were both separately arrested by the Ulster County Sheriff’s Department and charged with welfare fraud and multiple counts of offering a false instrument for filing, all felonies.
An investigation conducted by the Ulster County Department of Social Services Special Investigations Unit (SIU), in conjunction with the Office of the Ulster County District Attorney discovered that VanSlyke failed to report income to the Department of Social Services from December 2009 through December 2016, police say.
VanSlyke is accused of receiving $10,321 in SNAP benefits to which she was not entitled.
Valles allegedly failed to report a change in the household composition and income to the Department of Social Services from June 2016 through September 2016.
This resulted in Valles receiving $2,168 in SNAP benefits, $3,592.62 in Daycare subsidies and $375 in HEAP benefits to which she was not entitled, police say.
Both were processed and released to reappear in Ulster Town Court at a future date.