Corruption , It is Everywhere ! DCF Worker Tapped Fake Debit Cards

MIAMI,FLORIDA,USA By CAROL MARBIN MILLER cmarbin@MiamiHerald.com

It took Violet Jones, a state public assistance supervisor, only about 30 seconds to authorize hundreds of dollars in cash assistance on phony debit cards she and two accomplices reportedly used, according to an investigation by the Department of Children & Families' inspector general.
And Jones authorized the cash payments over and over -- on 1,725 separate occasions, and sometimes as often as four times on a single day, the report says.

In all, Jones and two alleged accomplices, Shanika Shorter and her sister, Tanisha Shorter, pocketed more than $1.5 million in cash benefits between January 2005 and December 2006, according to the inspector general's report.

Jones was arrested Dec. 6 by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement on charges of grand theft, money laundering, official misconduct and conducting an organized scheme to defraud. The Shorters were arrested the next day on similar charges.

Details of the three women's alleged crimes are included in the 12-page report, which showed Jones had extremely wide latitude to authorize cash payments to DCF clients, and sometimes used the computers of workers she supervised to create identities or approve payments.