(Woodland, CA) – December 22, 2017 – District Attorney Jeff Reisig announced that on December 12, 2017, 51-year-old West Sacramento womanTammy Jackson, 51 was convicted of defrauding the County Health and Human Services Agency. Jackson pled no contest to felony In Home Supportive Services (IHSS) fraud, grand theft, and identity theft. Jackson was an IHSS recipient, meaning the Health Human Services Agency paid for others to provide care and services for her. Jackson approached people she knew and devised a plan to have them sign up to be her IHSS providers. The providers did not perform services claimed, but Jackson filled out and signed timesheets as though services had been provided. Jackson would then turn in the timesheets to the Health and Human Services Agency’s IHSS program for payment.
In the beginning, Jackson gave the providers a minimal amount of the money she received from the program. This is a common fraud scheme in the IHSS program known as “check splitting” but soon after Jackson’s providers signed up she would stop giving them any money. Jackson facilitated her fraud scheme by renting mail boxes from stores with physical addresses in the Sacramento area. She rented the mail boxes in the provider’s names. The timesheets received by IHSS were processed and checks were mailed to the providers in the provider’s names. Jackson would collect the checks from the mail boxes and cash them using a friend’s bank account.
This plan was successful for approximately two years until Yolo County District Attorney Investigator, Tanya Souza, uncovered her fraudulent activities. Investigator Souza tracked down the providers including one that had been out of state during many of the fraudulent activities.
As part of Jackson’s felony plea agreement, Judge Janene Beronio sentenced Jackson to 60 days in the Yolo County Jail, three years felony probation and ordered her to pay $40,058.68 in restitution to the Yolo County Health and Human Services Agency.
IHSS is a statewide mandated program administered in Yolo County by the HHSA. IHSS provides for domestic and/or personal assistance to low-income individuals who are elderly, blind or disabled and who require assistance to remain safely in their homes. This case was investigated by the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office Special Investigations Unit. The DA’s Special Investigations Unit and the Yolo County Health and Human Services Agency work to prevent and investigate Public Assistance Fraud. By doing so, they ensure that there are funds available to assist those who are truly in need while holding accountable those who attempt to take advantage of the system by obtaining more public assistance than they are entitled to.
While government resources are dedicated to determining fraudulent action, the public’s attention to this issue is critical. Should you come across fraudulent activities in Yolo County, the Yolo County District
Attorney urges you to contact us, toll free, at 855-4-YOLO DA or email us at: Fraud@yoloda.org. You can also report IHSS fraud directly to the HHSA at (530) 661-2722. Other consumer protection resources can be found at www.YoloDA.org.
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