Gilliam said that the investigation resulted from “a tip” to one of the public assistance agencies. Such offered information, he added, is often the only way welfare fraud is uncovered, and in Nunez’s case “It had been going on for 10 years... we wouldn’t have caught on to it without the tip.”Nunez was a resident of Ventura until “we served the search warrant, and then I believe she was evicted by the Ventura Housing Authority,” after which Nunez moved to Santa Paula. Gilliam noted that although such agencies have “some checks and balances in place,” many of the cases investigated by the DA’s Office recently “have come from tips from neighbors, relatives and friends... and they are always aggressively investigated.”The case is notable: “I’ve been involved in public assistance fraud for 12 years,” Gilliam noted, and “this case represents the largest single dollar amount of fraud I’ve ever seen.”Nunez could face up to four years in prison if convicted on the charges, including a special allegation of stealing more than $65,000 in housing assistance. Free on $10,000 bail, Nunez is scheduled to appear in Superior Court on November 6.Gilliam said, “Investigators with the District Attorney’s Office are continuing to work with personnel” of agencies offering public assistance on public fraud cases.
Woman arrested for suspicion of more than $150K housing, welfare fraud
November 05, 2008
Santa Paula News
A woman who moved to Santa Paula after she was evicted from public housing in Ventura was arrested on suspicion of grand theft and welfare fraud for receiving illegal public assistance of more than $150,000 from various public agencies.
By Peggy KellySanta Paula TimesA woman who moved to Santa Paula after she was evicted from public housing in Ventura was arrested on suspicion of grand theft and welfare fraud for receiving illegal public assistance of more than $150,000 from various public agencies. Juana Nunez, 45, was arrested in Granada Hills on Thursday after a two-month investigation by the Ventura County District Attorney’s Government Fraud Unit, according to Deputy Chief Investigator Vinse Gilliam.The case, Gilliam noted, represents the “largest single dollar amount of public assistance fraud I’ve ever seen” in the dozen years he has been involved in such fraud cases. Nunez received the funds over a decade from July 1998 to September.Prosecutors allege Nunez, who until recently reportedly worked as an independent contractor for newspaper delivery for the Ventura County Star, failed to report - under the penalty of perjury - to the Ventura Housing Authority and Ventura County Human Services Agency that her boyfriend was living at her residence and that his earned income was part of the total household income.The boyfriend maintained steady income throughout the 10-year period by working at maintenance, landscaping and security jobs, Gilliam said. During the 10-year period Nunez received $19,556 in food stamps from the county Human Services Agency and $133,120 in housing benefits from the Ventura Housing Authority, although she was not legally entitled to the benefits.
