Detroit social worker charged with fraud

A know a woman who is a federal employee who did the same thing.


A City of Detroit social worker used tax dollars intended for poor people to buy herself furniture, a used car, home repairs and a high-end washer and dryer, according to charges filed by a joint task force that began investigating the city's Human Services Department.

Nellie L. Jenkins-Kendrick, 47, also is accused of sending her daughter to summer camp on the taxpayers' dime. She is the first person to be charged since a series of Free Press stories uncovered millions of dollars in misspending and mismanagement at the scandal-plagued agency.

Jenkins-Kendrick was charged Wednesday with fraud, accused of lying about her income to receive about $18,000 in benefits following an investigation by the state Attorney General's Public Integrity Unit.

The news comes less than a week after state and federal agencies announced they were investigating the misuse of at least $3 million at the beleaguered department, which has a long history of mismanagement.

"Michigan citizens have zero tolerance for public officials who abuse their authority to enrich themselves at the taxpayers' expense," Attorney General Bill Schuette said Wednesday. "We will continue to work with local, state and federal authorities to restore public integrity to every level of government."

What?  Is Mr. Schuettee going after Medicaid fraud in child welfare, finally?  Can this be true???

Jenkins-Kendrick faces up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine on a count of false pretenses.

And charges aren't expected to stop there, officials said.

In the past year, the Free Press has published more than a dozen accounts of misspending at the agency, which state and federal officials are hoping to strip of grant funding for services ranging from food pantries to the childhood education program Head Start.

Among the findings:

• Employees used money intended to help feed poor people to buy furniture for offices.

• Managers used tax-funded gift cards to buy high-end appliances for one another, friends and family members.

• Employees overseeing Head Start programs received salaries that the federal government deemed excessive.

"Those who game the system will be found out, arrested and prosecuted," said Michigan Department of Human Services Director Maura Corrigan, pledging to "relentlessly and vigorously pursue all cases involving fraud and abuse of the welfare system."

Maura, I will hold you to your word.  Start with foster care.  If you and Mr. Schuette need any help going after the billions in false claims, you know where to find me.