Thirty-one employees with the Department of Children and Families have been terminated Monday, or are in the process of termination, following an investigation into potential DSNAP benefits fraud occurring after Hurricane Irma.
The 31 individuals are accused of submitting inconsistent information when applying for food benefits, according to a statement from DCF.
Droves of Floridians showed up to DCF 'Food for Florida' benefit sites to apply for disaster relief across 48 counties.
A DCF representative said it automatically did an audit of its own employees who applied for DSNAP benefits and following a review identified applicants who submitted inconsistent information.
If found guilty of fraud, the 31 former employees will be required to pay the money they received back, according to the representative's statement. Failure to pay it back will result in their lottery winnings, tax returners and other revenue sources to be intercepted.
"These 31 individuals do not meet the high standards we hold more than 12,000 employees to," DCF's representative said. "DCF will impose administrative actions to recover any improperly obtained benefits as well as submitting our findings to the appropriate law enforcement agency."