The Cayuga County Sheriff’s Office has created a new task force to combat welfare fraud in the county.
Speaking on FLX Morning, Sheriff Brian Schenck said the task force, a collaboration between his office, the Cayuga County District Attorney’s Office, and the Cayuga County Department of Social Services, will identify, arrest, and prosecute those who abuse the system to receive benefits to which they are not entitled.
“Unfortunately, there are quite a few people in our community that take advantage of the benefits that are out there and the system that’s designed to help the people that really do need help, that’ve fallen on tough times… The goal here is to weed out this abuse.”
The sheriff added that, while the problem of welfare fraud is not unique to Cayuga County, the task force will help better pursue and prosecute those who commit fraud in the county.
“It’s an issue everywhere, but we’re trying to be a little bit more proactive here and do a better job of working on these cases hand in hand with those different agencies, and I think it’s going to pay some dividends.”
At the time of reporting, Sheriff Schenck said the task force’s efforts have already led to the arrest of three people.
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