MANATEE — A 21-year-old Bradenton man was arrested last week after he allegedly tried to sell his food stamp card on Craigslist, according the Florida Department of Children and Families.
Eddie Gentsch, was arrested Nov. 13 on four warrants, after a joint public assistance fraud investigation conducted by the DCF, Department of Financial Services and Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.
http://liarcatchers.com/fraud_investigation.html
Gentsch is charged with unauthorized use of public assistance, exploitation of the elderly, communicating to obtain fraudulent property and possession of another’s identification without consent. He was released Monday from the Manatee County jail after posting bonds totaling $5,000.
DCF, which determines eligibility for food stamps and other public assistance programs, and DFS regularly monitor social media sites, such as Facebook and Craigslist, for evidence of fraud.
According to a news release, “this is the first known arrest in Florida resulting from a collaborative effort of state agencies and local law enforcement to monitor social media sites for public assistance fraud.”
