Broome County has appointed a special prosecutor to deal with welfare fraud. The county has more than 60,000 residents receiving some kind of assistance and while District Attorney Steve Cornwell and County Executive Jason Garnar say the majority of those people need the help, the amount of people that are abusing the system has skyrocketed over the last 10 years. In response, the county has now appointed Stephanie Milks as lead welfare fraud prosecutor. Through new technology, she hopes to better target welfare cheats and other forms of scams. Cornwell says his office will also cross-reference drug crimes with welfare crimes and push for stiffer penalties. The welfare fraud prosecutor position will be funded through a vacancy at the health department and restitution from other fraud cases.
