State authorities have charged a Reading woman with welfare fraud, alleging she received an overpayment totaling about $1,200 in cash assistance benefits because she failed to disclose she was getting unemployment compensation.
Nkita F. Cespedes, 44, was free to await a hearing following arraignment Nov. 5 before District Judge Steven M. Chieffo in Reading Central Court.
The Pennsylvania office of State Inspector charged her with fraudulently obtaining assistance.
According to the probable cause affidavit:
A caseworker with the state Department of Human Services’ Berks County assistance office in Reading received information on April 30, 2024, through a cross-referencing computer database system that Cespedes had been receiving unemployment compensation from the Pennsylvania Department of Labor since Jan. 22, 2024.
In Cespedes’ online application for benefits to Human Services, submitted Jan. 17, 2024, she stated he had no household income.
In a telephone interview with a caseworker conducted more than two weeks after her unemployment benefits kicked in, she confirmed that she had no household income. She was apprised of her obligation to report any changes in the household, including income.
After learning Cespedes had been receiving unemployment compensation of approximately $1,000 a month in addition to court-ordered child support, her cash benefits were drawn to a close in late May 2024
The overpayment, determined to be $1,209, was referred to the attorney general’s office for further investigation.