Crime & Courts

Anchorage woman charged as state continues to chase PFD fraud

Anchorage woman Yupadee Craig is facing multiple charges stemming from her receiving two years of Permanent Fund dividend checks for two of her children who were living in Thailand at the time, investigators claim.

Craig's case is just one of several in which parents are accused of fraudulently trying to reap the benefits of the annual checks in their children's names, according to Shawn Stendevad, supervisor of PFD fraud for the Department of Revenue's Criminal Investigation Unit. Stendevad said parents attempting to collect money on behalf of their children under false pretense is "one of the more common" crimes that her department deals with.

"I would say most people know they are providing untrue information," said Stendevad. "It is easy to rationalize it. If you do it once, then the next time it becomes a little bit easier to do."

So far in 2014, the department's CIU has filed charges in 18 PFD fraud cases, seen 16 convictions and ordered $128,879.99 in restitution, according to Stendevad, who added that the year "isn't over yet."

In the case of the 39-year-old Craig, according to charges filed in mid-September, police received an anonymous tip in 2012 that she had collected Alaska's annual PFD checks for two of her children in 2010 and 2011.

Craig also applied for checks in 2012 but didn't receive them, the charges said.

In the course of the investigation, investigators were provided with border crossing information from the Department of Homeland Security, which showed that the children were in Thailand from May 6, 2009, until April 23, 2010. They left Alaska again about two months later and spent another nine months in the Southeast Asian country. They returned once again in 2011 but stayed less than a month.

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The charging documents claim that in 2010 the PFD checks, each worth $1,281, were deposited on behalf of the children by Craig into a Totten Trust account held by Craig. In 2011, two PFD checks totaling $1,174 each were accepted and deposited in the same way, the charges said.

Craig faces four counts of theft and six counts of unsworn falsification, all of which are class C felonies. Assistant attorney general Lisa Kelley, with the Office of Special Prosecution, said Craig could see a maximum of five years in prison for each charge.

In addition to possible jail time, Stendevad added, someone convicted on PFD-related charges must pay back the money they stole and could have to pay back every PFD they ever received. Also, anyone convicted of a PFD fraud-related charge will be banned from receiving Permanent Fund money ever again.

Megan Edge

Megan Edge is a former reporter for Alaska Dispatch and Alaska Dispatch News.

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