Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Benefits Fraud Compensation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
HRA data show millions in reported SNAP/cash theft; advocates press council to urge state compensation fund and chip card adoption
Summary
At a June 3 hearing HRA provided claim counts and estimated stolen benefit totals for SNAP and cash assistance. Witnesses and advocates urged the Council to support Reso 0839, which calls on the state to create a fraud‑victims compensation fund and to adopt chip‑style benefit cards. Public testimony included a SNAP victim's account of multiple
The Department of Social Services provided the committee with recent figures on SNAP and cash assistance fraud claims during a June 3 hearing and advocates urged the Council to pass Resolution 0839, which calls on the New York State legislature to create a compensation fund for victims of benefits fraud.
Administrator French reported claims filed so far in the calendar year and in 2024: for cash assistance, 12,476 claims filed so far this year and 35,312 in 2024; for SNAP, 22,538 claims filed so far this year and 86,232 in 2024. French also said the city’s reported stolen benefit totals were approximately $3.1 million so far this year for cash assistance (about $8.6 million in 2024) and roughly $11.7 million so far this year for SNAP (about $42.3 million in 2024).
Resolution 0839 asks the state to pass and the governor to sign legislation (testimony referenced bills at the state level) to create a victims’ compensation fund; witnesses said the fund would allow people to recover stolen benefits when federal or state reimbursement is unavailable. Witness Diana Ramos, a SNAP recipient and member of Safety Net Activists, testified that thieves used her card for three transactions at locations in Buffalo, Eastchester and Staten Island in the early hours after benefits were loaded. She told the committee that she had to rely on emergency nonprofit assistance to obtain food and urged the council to support a compensation fund and a shift to chip cards for EBT payments.
Advocates argued chip cards would reduce skimming and fraud; the City Council resolution would be a formal request to Albany to create a compensation mechanism and to accelerate consideration of technological changes to benefit cards.
Ending: The committee received survivor testimony and HRA figures; advocates asked the council to pass Reso 0839 and to press state lawmakers to adopt a compensation fund and modernized EBT technology.
