New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 18 - DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES › Chapter II - Regulations of the Department of Social Services › Subchapter B - Public Assistance › Article 5 - MISCELLANEOUS › Part 399 - Food Stamp Fraud And Food Stamp Intentional Program Violations-disqualification › Section 399.3 - Administrative food stamp fraud, pre-August 1, 1983

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
(a) Administrative food stamp fraud is fraud
			 as defined in section
			 399.1(a) 
			 of this Part.
(b) Upon discovery
			 that an overpayment in food stamps has occurred based upon the act or omission
			 to act of a recipient or former recipient which occurred prior to August 1,
			 1983, in the absence of the written authorization set forth in section
			 399.2(b) 
			 of this Part, the local social services district shall initiate collection
			 action by sending a written demand letter, approved by the department, to the
			 household characterizing the act or acts as inadvertent household
			 error.
(c) The local district shall
			 continue with its investigation of the act or acts to reach a determination as
			 to whether or not the act or acts constitute fraud within the meaning of
			 section
			 399.1(a) 
			 of this Part.
(d) The local social
			 services district shall refer all cases in which it believes the facts of the
			 individual case warrant civil or criminal prosecution through the appropriate
			 court system to the local district attorney (DA) (or other local equivalent) in
			 the initial instance and not to the department for an administrative food stamp
			 fraud hearing. This subdivision shall not apply in instances in which the local
			 social services district has received prior notification from the district
			 attorney (or other local equivalent) that the amount of the overpayment
			 determined by the district is less than the amount which the local official has
			 deemed sufficient for prosecution. The department shall not reverse a
			 determination following an administrative food stamp fraud hearing for lack of
			 compliance with the provisions of this subdivision.
(e) Should the district attorney (or other
			 local equivalent) either decline prosecution following receipt of a referral
			 occasioned by this section or fail to proceed with prosecution within a
			 reasonable time, then the local social services district may formally withdraw
			 the referral in writing.
(f)
			 Subsequent to formal withdrawal the local services district may make an
			 election to proceed with an administrative food stamp fraud hearing pursuant to
			 section
			 399.6 
			 of this Part. Should the district elect not to do so, its collection of the
			 claim will continue to proceed as an inadvertent household error pursuant to
			 the provisions of subdivision (b) of this section.
(g) Should the local social services district
			 elect to initiate procedures for an administrative food stamp fraud hearing
			 pursuant to section
			 399.6 
			 of this Part, it must formally withdraw the referral in writing to the local
			 official before referring the case to the department. Failure to present
			 evidence of such formal written withdrawal either in its evidentiary
			 transmittal to the department or at the hearing may result in an administrative
			 food stamp fraud hearing decision adverse to the district.
(h) Should the local social services district
			 elect to process a case for an administrative food stamp fraud hearing, it
			 shall assemble documentary evidence which the district believes is sufficient
			 on its face to support its determination of fraud and forward the evidence in
			 the form of an evidentiary packet to the Office of Administrative Hearings, New
			 York State Department of Social Services.
(i) The evidentiary packet forwarded by the
			 local district to the department accompanying the local social services
			 district's request for a administrative food stamp fraud hearing shall have
			 consecutively numbered pages, shall be submitted in three copies and shall
			 include, but not be limited to the following:
(1) the full name, including middle name; the
			 complete address including county of residence, the social security number, the
			 case number and the date of birth of the person(s) charged and against whom
			 disqualification is sought;
(2) a
			 list of the particularized charge(s) and the household member or members whose
			 disqualification is sought;
(3) a
			 summary of the evidence to be introduced;
(4) a listing of the names, titles and phone
			 numbers of all social services district personnel and district witnesses who
			 will appear in support of the determination;
(5) a particularized list of all the exhibits
			 included in the packet with the page number(s) on which each exhibit is
			 found;
(6) copies of all documents
			 to be used in support of the local district's determination;
(7) information as to when and where the
			 original evidence in the case may be reviewed;
(8) information as to the availability of
			 free legal services; and
(9) a
			 statement indicating whether or not the individual has previously been
			 determined to have committed fraud by either a court of competent jurisdiction
			 or an administrative food stamp fraud hearing decision. If the statement is in
			 the affirmative, supporting documentation shall be included in the evidentiary
			 packet.