San Francisco city worker, partner accused of $500K welfare scam
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins announced that 49-year-old Maggie Pasigan and 47-year-old Daisy Avalos were arraigned Thursday on charges of grand theft, welfare fraud, money laundering and conspiracy. Both Pasigan and Avalos pleaded not guilty.
In a statement, Jenkins thanked multiple agencies, including the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the city's Human Services Agency and Housing Authority, along with local law enforcement, in helping with the two-year investigation.
"My office will take action to ensure the integrity of our benefits systems and seek to hold those accountable who would defraud the system for their own personal gain," Jenkins said.
Court records show the city's Human Services Agency began investigating Pasigan in 2023 for alleged fraud, saying she did not disclose that Avalos was her domestic partner and Avalos' income as a city employee. The income would have disqualified their household for public benefits.
"The defendants' fraudulent actions diverted over $375,000 in taxpayer funds from multiple federal programs, including HUD-assisted housing programs designed to provide safe and affordable housing for low-income families," said Special Agent-In-Charge Robert Lawler of the HUD Office of Inspector General.
In addition to the housing benefits, Pasigan and Avalos are accused of receiving more than $30,000 a month in childcare benefits from a nonprofit contractor that stewarded public dollars for childcare and early education.
Investigators said the women claimed to have provided childcare to as many as 17 children. Surveillance over several months showed there was no evidence of drop-offs, pickups or any other signs of children under their care.
Prosecutors said the pair's next court appearance is Apr. 22, to set a date for the preliminary hearing.
Anyone who may have a report of welfare fraud is asked to contact the San Francisco Human Services Agency hotline at 405-557-5771.
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New York Post
02-07-2025
- New York Post
Michael Goodwin: Cuomo remains NYC's best shot to keep socialist Mamdani from being mayor – or the city will never be the same
He lost the primary by a stunning 12-point blowout, but as strange as it sounds, the ball is again back in Andrew Cuomo's court. Is he going to run a serious campaign in the general election, or is he ending his political career with a humiliating defeat? That's the key question for him, but it's also vital for the November election. Cuomo's answer is crucial because the Democrats' full-blown socialist nominee, Zohran Mamdani, is a heavy favorite to win. If he does and is able to implement even half of his radical agenda, New York will never be the same. It's teetering under the flawed leadership of Mayor Adams, but Mamdani is a human wrecking ball whose City Hall would make these troubled days look like a Golden Age. His policies would destroy Gotham's economy and shred the fragile social fabric. Nepo baby disaster His plan to freeze rents on 1 million privately owned apartments would turn the housing crisis into an unfixable disaster. What private developer is going to build apartments if it means losing money on the whims of a nepo-baby mayor who never held a job in the private sector? And if government becomes the major builder, look to the perpetually troubled Housing Authority projects for a vision of the hellscape future. Follow The Post's coverage of the NYC mayoral race Mamdani's racist plan to tax white-owned property higher than others and his support for antisemitic policies are beyond the pale. On top of his backing for the BDS movement, his refusal to condemn the odious phrase 'globalize the intifada' offers tacit support for violence against Jews in Israel and around the world. He's also a 33-year-old elitist who joined the 'defund the police' mob and has talked about dismantling the jail system. Next to him, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is a throw-away-the-key champion of law and order. New York has never had a mayor so far out of the mainstream. 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Polls didn't pick up the surge until the very end, with Cuomo consistently a dominant front-runner since March. One result was that Cuomo was too cautious, acting like an incumbent playing not to lose instead of playing to win. His Rose Garden strategy of skipping candidate forums and granting few interviews reflected what the polls were saying: that his lead was safe. It wasn't and I'm told he's now full of regrets and admits he ran a terrible race. He acknowledged as much in a brief statement to me late Tuesday, in which he said the 'buck stops with me' and that 'I should have focused on a simpler affordability message even in these complex times.' After saying that 'Effective social media is paramount,' he added, 'We're going through the data, but there's no question a fall campaign needs to be a different effort informed by the lessons of this one.' 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Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Yahoo
Woman wants help after receiving $7,203 MLGW bill
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Fox News
10-06-2025
- Fox News
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Three Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) field offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York City have temporarily closed their doors in the face of violence stemming from anti-ICE riots and protests, HUD confirmed to Fox News Digital on Tuesday. The temporary closures due to the violence come just weeks after Democrats such as California Rep. Maxine Waters and Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib claimed HUD field offices would permanently close due to Department of Government Efficiency efforts, with Waters saying such closures would affect "families and communities across the country who rely on HUD for housing assistance, community and economic development projects." HUD Secretary Scott Turner exclusively told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that liberals' claims in recent weeks that HUD would shutter field offices were "fake news" while lambasting Democrats for "encouraging riots" that have caused the three offices to temporarily shutter. 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Tlaib was heard shouting,"You don't give a sh--!" at HUD employees as the group of lawmakers and DOGE protesters ultimately left the building without meeting with Turner. A month after the HUD trip, Waters sent a letter in April to the Government Accountability Office's comptroller and HUD's acting inspector general calling for an investigation into allegations "the Administration plans to shut down local field offices and terminate housing agency staff." "I am concerned about what effects this will have on families and communities across the country who rely on HUD for housing assistance, community and economic development projects, as well as enforcement of federal fair housing and civil rights laws," Waters wrote in the letter. "Employees across approximately 54 field offices have localized expertise and work in communities to carry out face-to-face technical assistance, provide timely guidance to local grantees and officials to help speed up project timelines, and manage oversight and enforcement of federal statutes in each region," she continued. "The Trump Administration's proposal to close 34 field offices would severely disrupt federal housing programs, stall local development projects, and threaten the jobs of approximately 360 full-time employees." Fox News Digital reached out to Waters' and Tlaib's respective offices inquiring whether they are still concerned about HUD office closures due to violence in the left-wing cities, but did not immediately receive responses. Riots broke out in L.A. on Friday evening after federal law enforcement officials converged on the city to carry out immigration raids. Local leaders such as Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Gov. Gavin Newsom quickly denounced the raids in public statements while offering words of support for illegal immigrants in the state. Protests over the raids soon devolved into violence as rioters targeted federal law enforcement officials, including launching rocks at officials, with videos showing people looting local stores, setting cars on fire and taking over a freeway. Trump announced on Saturday that he was deploying 2,000 National Guard members to help quell the violence, and the administration deployed hundreds of Marines to respond to anti-immigration chaos on Monday evening as the violence continued. "If I didn't 'SEND IN THE TROOPS' to Los Angeles the last three nights, that once beautiful and great City would be burning to the ground right now," Trump posted to Truth Social on Tuesday morning.
