Every week at All Saints Church we put our faith into action. This week we are sending letters to Governor Newsom and the State Legislature demanding a more secure EBT system and a law enforcement crackdown on the perpetrators of this fraud.

The action is based on the following Los Angeles Times article published on February 8, 2023, “Brazen food stamp scammers steal millions from L.A.’s poorest. ‘They’re hemorrhaging money’” by Rebecca Ellis, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer. Excerpts below.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-02-08/ebt-fraud-la-county

The Problem:

Some of the county’s poorest residents will wake up to discover a month of food or rent money they were relying on has vanished — even though their EBT card never left their wallet.

In Los Angeles County, officials say more than $19.6 million in EBT benefits were stolen in 2022 — a more than 20-fold increase from the year before, when the county lost less than $1 million. This January alone, the county lost over $2.9 million — a one-month record.

“They’re hemorrhaging money,” said L.A. County Deputy Dist. Atty. Alex Karkanen, who works in the public assistance fraud division, referring to the county. “It’s just got to be stopped.”

But no one quite knows how.

Some advocates and public benefit attorneys want the state to move faster to make the cards more secure, upgrading EBT cards to the chip or tap technology that is now standard on most credit cards. The L.A. County Board of Supervisors passed a motion last month asking the county’s Department of Public Social Services to lobby for cards with chips, which would make people’s personal account information harder to steal.

Jason Montiel, a spokesperson for the California Department of Social Services, said the agency is considering the technology but doesn’t have a timeline. The upgrade would require “complex technological and statutory changes,” he added.

Nicholas Ippolito, a bureau director for the county’s social services department, said he was told by the state it could take up to 30 months to upgrade EBT cards, which the county is “not very happy about.”

One of the victims:

She’s never actually been to it — or to Tarzana, for that matter. She lives more than 20 miles away. But twice in recent months, she said, she has looked at her EBT card transaction history and seen that very U.S. Bank branch listed — always next to a large withdrawal.

Every month, Walker gets $1,580 in cash aid deposited on her EBT card. She relies on it for groceries for her four children, school supplies and the occasional trip to Chuck E. Cheese.

On Nov. 2, she said she checked her statement and saw that a month’s worth of aid had been drained at the Tarzana ATM at 6:15 a.m. On Jan. 2, $1,580 vanished at 6:06 a.m. — the fifth time Walker’s funds had been stolen.

Walker rattles off the pilfered payments easily — she’s had to go over them so many times with police and county officials. In April 2021, $200 was taken in Sherman Oaks. In September 2022, $1,000 in Calabasas, then $300 in Canoga Park. Then twice at the Tarzana ATM.

She filed a police report after each theft, and shared them with The Times.

“I don’t feel protected and I don’t feel as if I’m really on this program because when benefits are taken from me, there’s no backup support,” Walker said. “When you’re a single mom of four children, you depend on every nickel.”

The perpetrators and current law enforcement:

On Sept. 1, an operation led by the L.A. County district attorney’s office staked out ATMs in the San Fernando Valley and central L.A. Prosecutors said they arrested 16 people at five ATMs, all of them Romanian nationals. Authorities confiscated over 300 fake cards and about $130,000 in cash. Deputy Dist. Atty. Ryan Tracy, who prosecuted the cases, said everyone arrested appeared to be lower-level participants in a much bigger scheme.

All were charged with theft using a fraudulent card, a felony. Eight pleaded no contest and were sentenced to a month of community service and two years’ probation. The rest never showed up to court.

Several are believed to have returned to Romania. Karkanen, with the district attorney’s public assistance fraud division, said people are traveling to the region specifically from Romania to commit EBT fraud. The two men arrested last week — later identified as Cristian Chimirel and Petrisor Orbuletu — were Romanian.

Options to Take Action:

1. Sign a letter to the Governor and California State Legislature supporting a secure EBT system and stronger law enforcement at the Action Table on Sunday.
2. Download, sign and mail an action letter.

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If you ever need to look up your member of the U.S. House of Representatives or your U.S. Senators check here: www.house.gov and www.senate.gov.

To find contact information for your California State Senator or California State Assemblymember check here: www.senate.ca.gov and www.assembly.ca.gov.