I sometimes think the media, which you might assume would want titillating headlines, downplays stories like this so people won’t bother reading it! Of course the headline isn’t going to say “illegal from Ghana” admits guilt! Hereis the Worcester Telegramheadline and story,
Worcester store employee admits to identity theft
WORCESTER – A Worcester man who worked at a city store whose owner was jailed for $3.6 million in food stamp fraud admitted Tuesday to stealing people’s identities. Yaw Okyere, 36, a citizen of Ghana who overstayed a student visa in 2009, pleaded guiltyto one count of aggravated identity theft and one count of possessing five or more identification documents.
Mr. Okyere was arrested last year after authorities said they found evidence of identity theft and dozens of boxes of pricey merchandise in his apartment. He had nearly 200 state driver’s licenses in files on his computer, authorities said, and apparently used other people’s identities to order goods through the mail.
Why is this store still open? Owner found guilty in 2016 of $3.6 million in food stamp fraud, the largest bust in Massachusetts’ history. She was sentenced to one year in the slammer. https://www.telegram.com/news/20160711/worcester-woman-behind-36m-food-stamp-fraud-gets-year-in-jail
Authorities allege in court documents that Mr. Okyere had intermediaries bring the ill-gotten goods to his day job at J&W Aseda Plaza, the same Worcester store where $3.6 million in food stamp fraud was perpetrated several years ago. Mr. Okyere is described in court documents as a relative of the store owner, Vida Causey, who was sentenced to a year in jail. He told authorities who raided his home she was his aunt.
The charges Mr. Okyere faces carry combined maximum penalties of up to 17 years in prison and a fine of up to $500,000. He also faces possible deportation.
What! Possible deportation! Possible deportation! Deport him now and save the taxpayers the cost of keeping him in prison! More here.
I couldn’t find a photo of the Ghana illegal alien man, but wondered if that might be him standing outside of his aunt’s business!
What can you do?
This is one more story that should be reported in the mainstream media so Americans would have a better idea of the kinds of frauds to watch for and the kinds of fraudsters that are out there. Best thing you can do is to send this story out to your social media networks. Be sure to mention the student visa fraud!
A social worker, employed through a contract with Catholic Charities of the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland was supposed to be checking on and protecting the nine children in the Rodriguez home, but instead she had cooked up a deal with the children’s mother to obtain the family’s food stamps.
In exchange she allegedly turned a blind eye to abuse and deplorable living conditions that resulted in the death of a five-year-old boy whose body was buried in the back yard.
The case became known to the police when someone called from PAKISTAN with a tip! WTH!
This is the latest news fromCleveland.com:
Estate of Cleveland boy found buried in back yard sues Catholic Charities
CLEVELAND, Ohio — The estate of a 5-year-old Cleveland boy whose body was found in late 2017 buried behind his mother’s house has filed a lawsuit against the social services arm of the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland that employed the worker who was supposed to keep tabs on the family.
The survivorship of Jordan Rodriguez filed the wrongful death lawsuit Tuesday in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court against Catholic Charities, its employee Nancy Caraballo, the boy’s mother Larissa Rodriguez and her boyfriend Christopher Rodriguez. Nancy Caraballo The suit accuses Catholic Charities and Caraballo of recklessness, negligence and failing to report abuse the boy suffered in the two years leading up to his death.The estate, administrated by Michelle Rodriguez, seeks to take the case before a jury.
“While we cannot at this time comment on what is alleged in the lawsuit, Catholic Charities protects and advocates for those who are most vulnerable,” the statement said. “All employees undergo thorough background checks and extensive training with regard to ethics and specifically their duties to report child abuse or neglect.” Jordan’s body was discovered buried in the family’s backyard in December 2017, after Cleveland police received a call from Pakistan that said Christopher Rodriguez confessed to burying the child.
Investigators responding to the call found the home in deplorable condition, and it wasn’t long before they uncovered that Caraballo, a parent educator at an agency contracted with Catholic Charities who was assigned to the Rodriguez family, had been buying Larissa Rodriguez’s food stamps at discounted prices and lying in her reports of her visits.
Caraballo was supposed to conduct monthly home visits to check on Rodriguez’s children and living conditions and file a report each time. But investigators subpoenaed her cellphone records and compared text messages between Caraballo and Rodriguez to the reports and found that, on at least 12 occasions, Caraballo simply showed up to Rodriguez’s house to pick up the food stamp card. She filed false reports that said she inspected the home.
More here.
The case will make you sick!
In February Caraballo plead not guilty here.
Then herein April she was sentenced to 3 years for the food stamp fraud.
And, now get this, she reformed in jail and was out in six months, here.
As is usual there is no mention of the immigration status of either Caraballo or the Rodriquez duo.
But I am interested in why a call to police came from Pakistan. Were there Pakistani convenience store proprietors in on the food stamp fraud?
