Omaha Woman Sentenced for Mail Fraud
United States Attorney Deborah R. Gilg announced that Gwendolyn Knight, age 59 of Omaha, Nebraska, was sentenced by United States District Judge Joseph Bataillon on March 22, 2012, to serve 5 years of probation following her conviction for Mail Fraud. She was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $37,265.46.
From January 2005 until March of 2011, Knight received household chore service payments to which she was not entitled. “Chore services” are services, paid for by Nebraska Health and Human Services with federal funding, wherein a person is hired to do the household chores (cleaning, household maintenance, etc.), of qualified welfare recipients, which Knight was at the time. Knight’s chore provider discontinued providing chore services for Knight in 2004. Knight nonetheless continued to represent to HHS that he was still providing the services. Knight submitted applications for additional chore services and forged the man’s signature on the applications. Knight informed HHS that the payments should be mailed to Knight’s address, because the man was having problems with security at his residence. As a result, HHS continued mailing checks to her address, in the man's name. In turn, Knight forged his signature on the checks and used the money for her personal use.
This case was investigated by the Office of Inspector General for the Social Security Administration.
