A woman from Fort Erie has been charged with defrauding Ontario’s welfare system.
The Niagara Regional Police fraud unit launched an investigation in October into suspected fraudulent activities involving Ontario Works payments and failing to disclose additional income and assets.
Working jointly with the St. Catharines Works Eligibility Review Office, police say the investigation analyzed payments of approximately $8,800 between April 2016 and July 2017.
Police arrested a 36-year-old woman on Jan. 13 and have charged her with fraud over $5,000.
She is scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 10.
Investigators say the identity of the accused is not being released as it would violate her privacy as a recipient of government assistance.