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Maryland lawmakers hear bill to criminalize diversion of government benefits
Summary
Supporters told the House Judiciary Committee Jan. 27 that HB 216 would close a gap in state law by creating a benefits-exploitation offense for knowingly diverting SSI, SSDI, SNAP or Medicaid; sponsor said an amendment scales penalties by the value lost.
Delegate Aaron Kaufman asked the House Judiciary Committee on Jan. 27 for a favorable report on HB 216, a bipartisan bill he said would create a discrete criminal offense for obtaining or redirecting another person’s government benefits through deception, coercion, isolation or exploitation.
The sponsor framed the bill as closing a gap in Maryland law that currently targets financial exploitation of vulnerable adults but does not explicitly criminalize the intentional diversion of public benefits such as Supplemental Security Income, Social Security Disability Insurance, SNAP or…
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