Prosecutor tangles with state agency in welfare fraud case

Ozark County Prosecuting Attorney Tom Cline has run into an unexpected roadblock in a local investigation of welfare fraud — the Missouri Department of Social Services itself.
Cline says the Department of Social Services is being uncooperative, possibly to the extent of being illegal, in an investigation involving an Ozark County case of misuse of an EBT card.
Associate Circuit Judge John Jacobs had issued an investigative subpoena on Feb. 2 ordering the custodian of records for Ozark County Social Services to appear or produce records on an individual suspected of welfare fraud. The subpoena said all information pertaining to a particular EBT card, such as the person's name, date of application for benefits and all transactions for the month of January should be produced. The subpoena listed the last four digits on the card, and asked that the information be given by Feb. 9.
On Feb. 8, Gerald Meyer, legal counsel for the Missouri Department of Social Services, sent Cline a letter answering the subpoena saying the information provided in the subpoena was insufficient for his department to locate the EBT card, and that the department is constrained by state and federal law in matters regarding public assistance records and cannot release such information except under limited circumstances authorized by state and federal law.
Cline says he is shocked at the lack of cooperation he's getting from the state agency in the welfare fraud investigation.
In a follow-up letter to Meyer dated Feb. 10, Cline demanded cooperation from the state agency.
"I am surprised by the amount of resistance the Department of Social Services is displaying in cooperating with law enforcement in the investigation of welfare fraud," Cline said in his letter. "I consider this behavior contemptuous of the court's order, in violation of federal code and serving those who falsely obtain welfare benefits by concealing evidence of their criminal activity."
In his letter, Cline also said it is possible "that a state employee who suppresses evidence of welfare fraud …" may also be charged with a crime under state statute.
"In future requests for documents relative to a criminal investigation, I will expect and insist upon unfettered cooperation from the Missouri Department of Social Services with my judges, my law enforcement officers and my office when an investigation is launched on those who are stealing taxpayer dollars through the use of welfare fraud," Cline said in the letter.
It's not the first time the state agency has shut the gate in a local fraud investigation, according to Cline.
A similar case in 2011 where Cline had asked for a subpoena for investigation for the Howell County Social Services was met with a request by the Missouri Department of Social Services for a motion to quash the subpoena. A motion to quash would basically void the subpoena.
In that case, Cline's office was investigating welfare fraud involving an individual who was also being investigated for other criminal activity.
"We take these cases very seriously," Cline said. He said anyone who suspects any kind of welfare fraud should call his office.
His office number is 679-4649.