The state has charged four non-Alaska residents with fraudulently taking $50,000 from a state welfare program meant only for Alaskans, prosecutors said.
A Kenai grand jury handed up charges against the four Wednesday, accusing them of stealing from the Adult Public Assistance Program, the Office of Special Prosecutions said in a statement.
The program is funded entirely with state money and is only available to Alaskans.
Gene Daniel Card, Margaret Wells, Tracie Ann Lee-Mercer and John Thomas Adams were all living on the Kenai Peninsula when they applied for the public assistance program, which gives cash to elderly, blind and disabled residents to help them stay independent. Prosecutors said they all moved from Alaska but kept receiving benefits.
Card and Wells were charged with scheme to defraud and second-degree theft. Card was accused of stealing about $24,500 and Wells is accused of stealing about $15,200, prosecutors said. Lee-Mercer and Adams both face a single charge of second-degree theft. Adams is accused of stealing $9,088, and Lee-Mercer is accused of stealing $7,240, prosecutors said.
Scheme to defraud carries a prison sentence of up to 10 years while the theft charge's maximum jail term is half that.