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    The Sideshow

    Seattle welfare recipient lives in million-dollar home

    A Seattle woman who is receiving welfare assistance from Washington state also happens to live in a waterfront house on Lake Washington worth more than a million dollars.

    Federal agents raided the home this weekend but have not released the woman or her husband's name because they have not officially been charged with a crime.

    However, federal documents obtained by KING 5 News show the couple currently receives more than $1,200 a month in public housing vouchers, plus state and government disability checks and food stamps. They have been receiving the benefits since 2003.

    The 2,500 square-foot home, which includes gardens and a boat dock, is valued at $1.2 million. And even though the couple has been receiving the benefits for nearly 10 years, records show that they accurately listed the address of their current home when applying for the state and federal benefits.

    A federal official told KING 5 that the couple likely took advantage of a loophole, which allows low-income individuals to receive financial assistance to help them pay their rent and move away from housing projects. However, the law does not require officials to verify what type of home the benefits recipient is living in.

    As if the million dollar home weren't enough, the supposedly low-income couple also gave money to various charities and traveled around the world to locales in Turkey, Tel Aviv and resort towns in Mexico, according to court records.

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    13,813 comments

    • thomas  •  New York, United States  •  20 hours ago
      Funny how people like this get away with it, but a single person making 12/hour and having a teenager in junior high school can't even get food stamps, WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS COUNTRY
    • Alphalpha 23 hours ago
      Tip of the iceberg? Feds, need to keep on looking. I'm sure there are several people like this all over!
    • EJ  •  Santa Ana, United States  •  20 hours ago
      Meanwhile I have an lady abandoned by her husband living in my living room with her two little ones because no one will help her.
    • Kaimana  •  Rye, United States  •  20 hours ago
      MORE THAN TEN YEARS??? How does ANYONE get welfare+ food stamps for 10 years!!! Make them sell the house and repay EVERY DIME.
    • Rachel 19 hours ago
      big house and lavish trips all on the dime of real hardworking people equals zero pride and no class. kudos to them.........they're worthless.
    • Brandon M  •  Chatsworth, United States  •  23 hours ago
      We have tried to get food stamps to help us out and have been told we make to much. This couple should be made to pay back every cent that they got and if they do not have it sell the house and then see how they like living on the amount they now get.
    • Phanhm  •  Olympia, United States  •  19 hours ago
      Washington State better get these greedy SOBs to pay back everything they received plus a hefty fine!
    • hulo73 23 hours ago
      Outrageous! 10 years on public assistance?! Cut them OFF completely and do it, PRONTO!!! Not only that, they should post these people pictures/names to publicly shame them. DISGUISTING PIGS!!!
    • Rtrothner  •  Tulsa, United States  •  20 hours ago
      I wonder if anything will be done. This is truly an outrage.
    • Player 20 hours ago
      I work in a major grocery store and I see people using foodstamps and then getting in there BMW's,while I work 2 jobs and barely make it
    • Donzi 23 hours ago
      And who doesn't think the system is broken?
    • Larae L  •  Spring, United States  •  19 hours ago
      My ex-sister-in-law is doing the same thing. She is pulling in over $800/month and doesn't even have custody of the kids she is getting the assistance for! It has been reported and under investigation for about eight months...and she is STILL collecting. Ridiculous!!!
    • Sam Yesterday
      Only in America can you steal,lie and still claim you are being used and abused.
    • Fitzee  •  Schertz, United States  •  23 hours ago
      Scumdog millionaire.
    • UNKNOWN 19 hours ago
      What a travesty that so many people have made it possible for such fraud to exist AT THE EXPENSE OF HARD WORKING, RESPONSIBLE AMERICANS!!!
    • Paul  •  Santa Barbara, United States  •  20 hours ago
      Umm the only problem here is that its the States that dish out the welfare..The Feds just give the money to the states. There are lots of people who use different names and addresses and get more than one welfare check a month. How about a simple solution. Photos and fingerprints.
    • warcat59  •  Dalhart, United States  •  19 hours ago
      Doesn't surprise me. Woman ahead of me in checkout line last night used food stamps to buy her groceries, and had the bag boy carry them out to a brand new Escalade. Have a friend who cannot work because of medical issues, and can't even get him a one-bedroom apartment. Disgusting.
    • Jane  •  Olney, United States  •  19 hours ago
      Make them sell their home and work to pay every dime back. Don't put them in jail...we taxpayers have taken care of these people long enough... I was a single mom of two who worked 3 jobs 7 days a week to take care of us.... I dont see where it would hurt them to work like I did. I surely did not live in a million dollar home, did not get any kind of public assistance not even insurance... I paid for that myself also.
    • Jeff R  •  Birmingham, United States  •  20 hours ago
      I'm glad they are finally getting someone for this, I could throw several names in the hat for em to go after. I'm tired of paying for someone else to have it made and not hit a lick, mean while I work my butt off and barely make it. I'm serious, I have a neighbor that gets steaks and seafood on their food stamps ang go on vacations every year. They haven't worked the first day in the five years they have lived there. Meanwhile, my family gets peanut butter sandwiches and hot dogs. I'm sick of it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    • Independent 21 hours ago
      This made my Ramen Noodles taste worse.

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