Women accused of welfare fraud
A Butler woman is accused of fraudulently receiving more than $6,000 in federal food stamps last year.
The Pennsylvania Inspector General’s office on Wednesday charged Michelle Kriess, 34, with a third-degree felony count of illegally obtaining Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.
Investigators said Kriess, in applying for and collecting public benefits, failed to disclose she was getting paid working for a health care staffing agency in Allegheny County.
According to court documents, Kriess between March 1 and Oct. 16, 2014, collected $6,666 in benefits for which she was not entitled.
Her preliminary hearing is set for Dec. 7 in the office of District Judge Pete Shaffer in Butler.
In an unrelated case, the state inspector general’s office Wednesday also charged a northern Butler County woman with welfare fraud.
Investigators said Debbie R. Knight, 54, of Mercer Township accepted $766 in illegal food stamp benefits between Aug. 1 and November 2014.
During that time, documents said, she was not entitled to the assistance because she was earning wages for a Harrisville company — information she failed to disclose when applied for benefits.
She is charged with a third-degree misdemeanor count of illegally obtaining SNAP benefits.
Knight also faces a Dec. 7 preliminary hearing at Shaffer’s office.
