Green Bay woman facing welfare fraud charges

GREEN BAY - Last May, FOX 11 On Special Assignment told you how investigators in Brown County were putting a new focus on public assistance fraud. After our story aired, several tips came in. Investigators say one tip uncovered the largest case they've ever seen.

Over a seven-year period, 29-year-old Green Bay resident Stephanie Ames allegedly received $123,798.50 in taxpayer-funded benefits prosecutors say she wasn't entitled to.

Jenny Hoffman is a supervisor with Brown County Human Services, the agency that administers Food Share, Badger Care and child care programs. Hoffman says that is the highest amount she's ever seen in a public assistance case.

There has not been a final ruling in this case about whether Ames committed any wrongdoing because the case is still working its way through the legal system.

But according to the criminal complaint in the case, taxpayers paid $90,399.58 to Ames for child care assistance, $28,047.92 in medical assistance and $5,351 in Food Share.

Investigators say while Ames was receiving benefits, she claimed to be living with just her four children. But it turns out, prosecutors say Ames' fiancée, and the father of their four children Randell Steele, was living there all along.

"That happened because that client was dishonest with us at every interaction we had with that person," Hoffman said.

According to the complaint, Steele and Ames both admitted to investigators that they had been living together since 2003.

The criminal complaint says Ames had 18 opportunities to give her case workers accurate information about who was living in the home. She never did.

FOX 11 On Special Assignment tried to talk with Ames and Steele at a recent court hearing but both denied our request for an interview. Ames' attorney, Alf Langan, also declined to talk with FOX 11. All he would tell us about the case is that there was a "misunderstanding."

While Langan would not explain what that misunderstanding is, FOX 11 On Special Assignment found online court records that show Randell Steele listed several different addresses in the last eight years.

In August of 2004, he said he lived at a home on Ashland Avenue, where Ames lives. A few months later, in January of 2005, Steele listed an address on Western Avenue. Fast forward to August of 2006, Steele was back where Ames was living.

But two months later, in October, Steele claimed to be living on Irwin. Then in 2008, Steele again said he was living at the same address as Ames.

Despite the different addresses, in the criminal complaint, investigators say Ames and Steele both admitted they were living together since 2003.

FOX 11 On Special Assignment spoke with long-time prosecutor John Zakowski about the case in January, before he took the bench as a Brown County Judge.

"The reason a case can go on is that the case workers rely upon the information received from the applicant," Zakowski said in January. "There aren't the resources or the time to check on every single applicant that reports."

FOX 11 On Special Assignment asked Hoffman if the department could verify who is living in a home at the beginning of the application process.

Hoffman replied, "We do verify the address and that they are a Wisconsin resident. But verifying the household members that are residing there really it's a self-declaration by the consumer unless we find it questionable then we would ask for additional verification."

When asked if it was simply a case of resources, Hoffman said, "Yes. It is resources. Our economic support workers that are on the front lines determining eligibility have high caseloads so if we had more staff that could spend more time we could catch more fraud."

Brown County has beefed up its fraud investigation unit. Last month, a second sheriff's deputy was assigned to work specifically on fraud. In the human services department, there are two fraud specialists to go along with 30 case workers. Those case workers handle 17,000 public assistance cases.

Ames has pleaded not guilty to the charges against her. She will be back in court next month.