Women with fake San Francisco childcare center swindled $500K in welfare: DA
SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — Two San Francisco women received more than $500,000 in public welfare benefits while they operated a fake childcare center and lived in subsidized housing, prosecutors said.
Maggie Pasigan, 49, and her girlfriend, 47-year-old Daisy Avalos, are now facing charges including grand theft, welfare fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy, according to the district attorney's office.
Avalos is a city employee, the DA's office said. The couple appeared in court Thursday and pleaded not guilty.
District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said, 'My office will take action to ensure the integrity of our benefits systems and seek to hold those accountable who would defraud the system for their own personal gain.'
Pasigan and Avalos falsely claimed that they provided childcare and early childhood education services for 17 kids, prosecutors said. A two-month-long investigation into Pasigan and Avalos revealed the children did not exist, prosecutors said.
They received over $30,000 every month in childcare subsidies from a nonprofit organization contracted by the City of San Francisco, according to the DA's office.
Pasigan and Avalos are domestic partners, according to the DA's office. The San Francisco Human Services Agency became suspicious in 2023 when they discovered that Pasigan never disclosed the fact that Avalos was a city employee who earned regular income, and she was Pasigan's partner, according to the DA's office.
'Such income would have disqualified the household for public benefits, which are intended to assist only low-income families,' the DA's office wrote.
'The defendants' fraudulent actions diverted over $375,000 in taxpayer funds from multiplefederal programs, including HUD-assisted housing programs designed to provide safe andaffordable housing for low-income families,' said Robert Lawler of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General.
Investigators conducted surveillance for months of the couple's 'childcare center.' Prosecutors said there was no evidence of any children being present, dropped off, or picked up.
In total, the couple's conspiracy and fraud swindled more than $500,000 in public benefits from San Francisco, according to investigators.
Thursday is last day to drive along SF's Great Highway
Jenkins said, 'I would like to thank the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, the San Francisco Human Services Agency, and the San Francisco Housing Authority for their hard work and collaboration in this case with San Francisco Police and the San Francisco Sheriff's Office to expose this fraud.'
Pasigan and Avalos' next court appearance is scheduled for April 22.
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