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Officials: Woman Accepted $200K In Benefits While Running Million-Dollar Business

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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Officials say a Butler County woman fraudulently accepted thousands of dollars in benefits while running a million-dollar business.

Pennsylvania Office of State Inspector General agents investigated allegations of fraud against Pittsburgh-area resident Kimberly Coleman after receiving information from the Cranberry Township Police.

According to officials, Coleman applied for and accepted almost $200,000 in state child care and SNAP assistance between June 2014 and November 2018.

Officials say during that same period of time, Coleman owned and operated a residential care business that received more than $1 million from the Department of Human Services for services provided. Coleman and her husband also entered an 11-month residential lease paying $8,900 a month with a $30,000 down payment.

Coleman allegedly submitted false information to state caseworkers so she could continue receiving benefits.

Officials say she submitted paystubs from a pizza restaurant on her husband's behalf, but her husband never worked at the restaurant. She also submitted false paystubs on her own behalf from a fictitious corporation at an address belonging to another property she owned but failed to disclose.

She also lied about her residential address so she could receive benefits through Allegheny County even though she lived in Butler County.

Officials say in all, Coleman stole $195,223 of state benefits over the course of four and a half years.

Coleman was charged with three counts of welfare fraud each graded as a felony of the third degree.

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