Bellingham woman allegedly collects $36,000 in benefits using fraudulent reports
A 36-year-old Bellingham woman is suspected of receiving more than $36,000 in food and child care assistance from the state of Washington after she fraudulently filled out paperwork detailing her living status.
Brianne Danae Wallace was booked and released from Whatcom County Jail June 26 on suspicion of fraud, jail records show.
According to Whatcom County Superior Court records, the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services Office of Fraud and Accountability opened an investigation into benefits Wallace was receiving in February of 2018 after getting a tip that she was living with the father of one of her children while still receiving child care and food assistance between 2011 and 2015.
The investigation found that Wallace had signed and filed fraudulent forms on multiple occasions about her living and work status and how much money she was receiving, failing to mention she lived with the child’s father, court documents state.
The investigation also revealed that Wallace was overpaid $31,688.37 in child care assistance and $4,996 in food assistance by the state that she would not have received if she had reported her living arrangements and income accurately, according to documents.
The investigation also revealed a May 2011 rental application in which she wrote that the child’s father was her brother-in-law and that his wife was her sister, documents state. Three year-long rental agreements for Wallace and the child’s father for the same address also were found.
An investigator conducted a voluntary interview of Wallace in October of 2018, but under the advice of her lawyer, Wallace did not confirm signatures on documents or describe her relationship to the child’s father.
