(SitNews) Anchorage, Alaska - The Alaska Commissioner of Revenue announced that Nevada resident Tyrene Stallworth, 38, was indicted by an Anchorage grand jury on six counts of theft in the second degree and 15 counts of unsworn falsification in the first degree for actions taken relevant to applications for the Permanent Fund Dividend program.

According to the October 17, 2012, indictment, Stallworth and her four children allegedly were living and receiving benefits in Nevada between February 2002 and May 2009. Stallworth is alleged to have failed to disclose her absence or that she was no longer a resident of Alaska on the PFD applications she submitted for herself and her children between 2003 and 2009, with the result that Stallworth received and cashed or deposited a total of $44,515.60 in Permanent Fund Dividends that she was not eligible to receive.

The State of Alaska originally filed charges against Stallworth in November 2009, and a warrant issued for her arrest at that time. Stallworth was arrested in Nevada in July 2012, where she pled guilty to felony theft based on her failure to disclose the income received from the Alaska Permanent Fund Program in the context of her public assistance case in Nevada. After sentencing, Stallworth was extradited to Alaska on the 2009 warrant.

The crimes of unsworn falsification in the first degree and theft in the second degree are class C felonies and carry a maximum penalty of a definite term of imprisonment of not more than five years and a maximum fine of not more than $50,000. The crime of unsworn falsification in the first degree arose from 2007 legislation that specifically defined providing false information on an application for a Permanent Fund Dividend as a felony.

The investigation was conducted by the Criminal Investigations Unit of the State of Alaska, Department of Revenue, which is the agency tasked with investigating fraud against the Permanent Fund Program.

Defendants are to be presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. A grand jury indictment is merely an accusation.

Source of News: 

Alaska Department of Revenue
www.revenue.state.ak.us

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