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Richville, MN – A Richville man is facing multiple counts of fraud-related charges after lying about being unemployed and obtaining thousands in SNAP benefits.
According to court documents, 56-year-old Mark Edward Boehner had received paychecks between July 8th, 2022 and May 2024 that totaled to $69,545.34 and did not report the income when applying for or renewing welfare benefits. He received a total of $5,725.00 in SNAP benefits that he would not have received if he had reported the income.
The fraud was discovered by an Otter Tail County Eligibility Worker in April 2024 as they were going through DEED records. On at least five different occasions, Boehner lied on relevant paperwork or to County Staff, saying that he was unemployed and was paying off his expenses with what he had in his bank account.
In June, a fraud investigator reached out to Boehner and questioned him about his employment, to which Boehner allegedly stated that he had been working at Home Depot for about one year and he did not have any other jobs. The investigator asked why he didn’t report his income on his renewal in June 2023, and he stated that he just started working. When confronted with evidence that he had been working at the same employer in June 2022, Boehner said that a lot has happened, and he really could not remember when he started working.
Boehner made his first court appearance Monday (January 6th) and is facing one count of Theft via Wrongfully Obtaining Assistance, one count of Welfare Fraud, and five counts of Perjury in Writing.
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