Tag: Food Stamps

Indeed, JP Morgan's Christopher Paton told Bloomberg News that food stamps are big business for the big bank:

"We are the largest processor of food stamps in the country...[the EBT program] is a very important business to JP Morgan. It's an important business in terms of its size and scale.... Right now volumes have gone through the roof in the past couple of years or so. The good news from JP Morgan's perspective is the infrastructure that we built has been able to cope with that increase in volume."

While some may be glad that a private company-not a government agency-is tasked with EBT transactions, the GAI report reveals that JP Morgan does not use the same fraud detection systems commonly used by today's credit card companies.  In fact, federal and state agencies--not EBT processors--are the ones tasked with policing food stamp fraud.

Nice gig, eh?  JP Morgan lobbies Ag Committee Chair Sen. Debbie Stabenow, for their graft then those of us that are taxpayers also get to pay for the policing of JP Morgan's transaction processing.  Think not?  

So how did EBT processors like JP Morgan land its lucrative half-billion dollars worth of contracts?

The GAI report, Profits From Poverty: How Food Stamps Make Corporations Money, says JP Morgan's political donations to members of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees (who oversee the food stamp program) skyrocketed once the bank entered the EBT market:

Between 1998 and 2002, JPMorgan's total contributions per election cycle averaged $82, 897. After JP Morgan entered the EBT services market until the 2010 election cycle, their average donation per cycle more than doubled to $215,120.... JPMorgan's donations to political campaigns also show a clear trend. During the 2008 election, Barack Obama received more than twice the contributions of John McCain: $807,000 for Obama compared to McCain's $345,505.

Today, one out of every seven people in America receive taxpayer-funded food stamps.

When it comes to funding campaigns, JP Morgan is Debbie Stabenow's third best friend.  Remember folks, the $500 billion Farm Bill that Sen. Stabenow, is now all of a sudden campaigning on while Arab Spring rages against America, is 80% EBT/SNAP money.  JP Morgan has paid Debbie handsomely for their share of that $400 million in food stamp monies her committee sent to the Senate floor.

A Lincoln Park woman who collected welfare benefits despite winning a big lottery prize pleaded no contest to fraud Thursday and likely will be sentenced to probation.

Lawyers for Amanda Clayton, a 25-year-old mother of two, were disappointed that state prosecutors would not settle the case without a felony charge.

"Ambitions often get in the way of good justice," Todd Flood told The Associated Press outside court.

There is no dispute that Clayton collected about $5,500 in food aid and medical benefits after winning a $735,000 lottery prize, before taxes, last year. After Clayton was confronted by TV station WDIV, the state charged her with fraud and said she should have informed the Department of Human Services about her windfall.

Clayton, who bought a new home and a car with her winnings, has said she felt entitled to the welfare handout.

More here

via The News-Herald

A Lincoln Park resident charged with two counts of welfare fraud-failure to inform stood mute today at her arraignment in Wayne County Circuit Court.

Judge Margie Braxton entered a plea of not guilty on behalf of Amanda Clayton, 25.

Paul Cusick, a state prosecutor, said he had no plea deal offers for Clayton. One of her attorneys, John Dakmak, said in May that they are not ruling out the possibility of a plea deal.

Clayton is due back in court for a conference at 9 a.m. June 28.

Rest here

The Michigan attorney general's offices says Clayton waived her preliminary examination in Lincoln Park that was scheduled for Tuesday. The hearing determines whether there's enough evidence for a case to go to trial. She's now due for June 5 arraignment in Circuit Court in Detroit.

A message was left Tuesday with a lawyer for Clayton.

Now, the legalese merchant puff-up from CBS Detroit.

Amanda Clayton's attorney John Dakmuk is not saying if a deal is in the works with the state attorney general to keep his client free, but he said restitution has not been ruled out.

"I can't get into too much of the details of the case but we are looking forward to putting this case before the court and before the public. There's a lot more to this case than's been alleged at this point," Dakmuk told reporters.

Amanda Clayton is charged with failing to inform the state that her income had changed as a result of the lottery prize and a job. The 25-year-old from Lincoln Park won a $1 million jackpot on the game show "Make Me Rich!" and chose a $735,000 lump sum, before taxes, last September.

She was set to appear today for a preliminary examination, but the hearing was adjourned at the defense's request.

The case is being prosecuted by the Michigan attorney general's office. A defense lawyer has said prosecutors are exploiting Clayton for their purposes.

Ain't money nice?  She's using the same power broker (Todd Flood, one of her attorneys) that Elena Ford had to squash down her OWI child endangerment charges in Ferndale.  Just can't wait to see what kind of deals are cut for this looter that'll undoubtedly be back on the public dole.

Amanda Clayton, 25, of Lincoln Park, received public assistance from August 2010 through March 2012.  Investigation by the Department of Human Services, Office of Inspector General revealed that Clayton was employed from June 2011 through October 2011.  It is alleged that income from Clayton's employment during that time period was never reported to DHS officials, as required by State law. Additionally, on September 12, 2011, Clayton won $1,000,000 in the "Make Me Rich!" game show sponsored by the Michigan Lottery.

Attorney General Bill Schuette and Michigan Department of Human Services Director Maura D. Corrigan today announced that the Attorney General's Criminal Division has charged a million-dollar lottery winner with two felony counts of welfare fraud after investigation revealed she failed to report her lottery winnings, as well as her employment, as required by State law governing public assistance programs.  The charges resulted from an investigation by the Michigan Department of Human Services, Office of Inspector General.

"It's simply common sense that million dollar lottery winners forfeit their right to public assistance," said Schuette.  "We will continue to work with local, state and federal authorities to uphold state laws intended to ensure wise stewardship of taxpayer dollars."

"The hard work done by our Office of Inspector General has helped make the difference in this case," said Corrigan.  "That commitment to investigation and uncovering the truth, combined with the new law recently enacted by the legislature and signed by the Governor, will make it easier to ensure that outrages involving instant millionaires on public assistance don't happen in the future."

Amanda Clayton, 25, of Lincoln Park, received public assistance from August 2010 through March 2012.  Investigation by the Department of Human Services, Office of Inspector General revealed that Clayton was employed from June 2011 through October 2011.  It is alleged that income from Clayton's employment during that time period was never reported to DHS officials, as required by State law. Additionally, on September 12, 2011, Clayton won $1,000,000 in the "Make Me Rich!" game show sponsored by the Michigan Lottery.  It is alleged Clayton also failed to report the lottery winnings as income.  As a result, from August 2011 through March 2012, Clayton allegedly collected approximately $5,475 in food and medical assistance benefits for which she would otherwise have been ineligible.

Rest here