Three Women Arrested in Texas Child Support Theft Ring

State investigators have charged three San Antonio women with stealing funds from at least eight different Texas child support accounts. The women all worked for a private firm that collected Texas child support funds and issued debit cards to the custodial parents. Reports showed that the women would change the mailing addresses on the debit card accounts, pick up the cards at the new address and use local automatic teller machines to drain cash from the accounts.

Texas Child Support Thieves Net $24K

An account fraud manager with the firm contacted the state attorney general’s office to investigate the apparent Texas child support thefts. The three women arrested thus far, Laura Moreno, Sylvia Noriega and Christina Aldana, netted at least $24,000 from their combined efforts. In an affidavit, Ms. Moreno wrote that she had sent the card to a friend, who then withdrew $1,700 for the account. In her sworn statement, Ms. Noriega wrote that she picked up a recipient’s debit card and withdrew $5,400. Ms. Aldana had reportedly stolen over $17,000 from at least eight different accounts.

Similar Methods In Texas Child Support Theft

When the women would receive a call to change the address on their Texas child support debit cards, they would enter a different address, order new cards and have them delivered to the selected address. In Ms. Aldana’s case, she would look through the company’s database, change the address, then request a new card to be delivered to her post office box. Investigators have not yet revealed if the women behind the Texas child support thefts were working together, but their affidavits attest to widespread theft and corruption a their workplace.

More Texas Child Support Theft Arrests?

The number of arrests so far in the Texas child support fraud ring has led investigators to believe that more suspects could be using the same methods to obtain stolen debit cards. Investigators have yet to discover if the Texas child support thefts are limited to the company that employed the three women, or if the problem exists in other companies working with the state to gather and distribute child support funds. If the problem exists system-wide, the state may be forced to redesign its child support payment plan.

Source: KSAT-TV

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