? ? ?- : ? ?- --- ?- - .tniAr ' II II- r - -1 y?-r Establish Fraud Unit At Duplin ? Social Services D?. - n ??_ r. ? ? r _ rw/nrnoirman* ?*?? ncreuuy uic uupun socuu ser vices Department has successfully brought fraud suits against four individuals and Ponda Byrd, head 4he of the County Social Services fraud unit, said more than 30 other pases are under investigation. ? The four court convictions within ^ the past few months are more than Duplin Social Services had handled in 10 years, Byrd pointed out. Restitution ordered in the cases totaled S5,112. "Until the fraud unit was estab lished within the past year, fraud cases went uninvestigated," Duplin Social Services Fraud Unit Coordi nator Ponda Byrd said. "Social Service workers cannot handle their regular cases and investigate fraud ^ too; they just do not have the time." ? Most fraud cases involve indivi duals receiving funds under one or more social service programs who fail to report income or another wage-earning person living in the household. Monies received from social service overpayments due to willful failure to report income or wage-earners within the household is fraud, Byrd pointed out. If the v.vtj/Mjmvui ivi?ua jJ Beulaville Monk Whaley i mpBiBiail' ? i