TRENTON, N.J. – It is no surprise that fraud is a rather frequent occurrence in public assistance programs. But now we are seeing it with the Michelle Obama’s school lunch program.

Investigations by the Division of Criminal Justice and the New Jersey State Police led to Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman’s Office charging six women, all public employees, with“…stealing a total of more than $10,000 from the federally funded free and reduced-price school lunch program by filing false applications for their children,” according to Politickernj.com.

The six women charged represent only a few of the cases under investigation involving school lunch fraud.

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From Politickernj.com:

The Office of the State Comptroller referred numerous potential cases to the Division of Criminal Justice involving public employees or their families who allegedly under-reported their household income in order to fraudulently qualify their children for free or reduced-price lunches.  These six defendants represent the first round of prosecutions resulting from the referrals and the ongoing investigative efforts of the Division of Criminal Justice and State Police, Hoffman said.

The Attorney General’s Office charged the following women on Monday “…by complaint-summons with third-degree theft by deception,” according to the news site:

Nona Daily, 45, of Pennsauken, a teacher’s aide in the Camden School District, allegedly filed false applications for five school years beginning with 2009-2010 and continuing through the current school year, which resulted in her two children receiving $4,016 in free breakfasts and lunches to which they were not entitled.  Daily reported only her income in the applications, failing to report that her husband, who is a member of the household, earned between $63,000 and $73,000 in each of those years as an employee of New Jersey Transit.  Daily earned between $18,000 and $22,000 annually.

Jessica Davila, 42, of Newark, a U.S. Postal Service clerk, allegedly filed false applications for six school years beginning with 2008-2009 and continuing through the current school year, which resulted in her two children receiving $1,870 worth of free lunches or discounts on reduced-price lunches to which they were not entitled.  Davila reported household income for those years ranging from $16,000 to $39,000, when in fact her income combined with the income of the children’s father, who lives with them, ranged from $128,000 to nearly $150,000.  She did not report any of his income on the applications.

 Tiajuana McShan, 40, of Millville, a cottage training supervisor at the Woodbine Developmental Center, allegedly filed false applications for three school years beginning with 2011-2012 and continuing through the current school year, which resulted in her three children receiving $1,722 worth of discounts on reduced-price lunches to which they were not entitled.  She reported annual income ranging from $26,000 to $44,000 for those years, but her real income ranged from $45,000 to nearly $75,000.

Helen Allen, 45, of Millville, a senior food service handler at the Woodbine Developmental Center, allegedly filed false applications for four school years beginning with 2010-2011 and continuing through the current school year, which resulted in her two children receiving $1,218 worth of free lunches or discounts on reduced-price lunches to which they were not entitled.  Allen under-reported her own income and failed to report the income of her boyfriend, who is the father of one of the children and was a member of the household.  Their combined incomes greatly exceeded the household income limit for the program, exceeding $100,000 for at least two of the years in question.

Janet Hubert, 53, of Hillside, a family service worker with the New Jersey Department of Children and Families, allegedly filed false applications for six school years beginning with 2008-2009 and continuing through the current school year, which resulted in her three children receiving $862 worth of discounts on reduced-price lunches to which they were not entitled.  Hubert earned between $83,000 and $94,000 annually during those years, but reported less than half of her income.  She also did not report her husband’s income.  Together they earned between $95,000 and $115,000 in household income during those years.

Theresa Gunter, 34, of Browns Mills, a nurse at Buttonwood Hospital (now a private hospital but formerly run by Burlington County), allegedly filed a false application for the 2009-2010 school year that resulted in her two children receiving $616 worth of discounts on reduced-price lunches to which they were not entitled.  Gunter reported that she earned just over $30,000 annually, when in fact she earned nearly $49,000.

Another federal handout simply leads to more opportunities for fraud. Should this really come as a surprise?