DHS: GR woman bilked State out of $360K

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - A Michigan government agency is accusing a Grand Rapids woman of stealing thousands of dollars from the State over the course of four years.

The Department of Human Services is accusing M onica Robertson of overcharging the State of Michigan more than $300,000 for hours of child care she says she provided, but the state says she didn't.   

Robertson has run a Grand Rapids daycare called "A Precious Creation" for nearly a decade. The facility is licensed to hold 21 children.   

The state says that since January, 2008, Robertson has billed Michigan for an extra 153,000 hours of daycare at a total cost of more than $363,000.

That's an average of an extra 38,000 hours and more than $90,000 each year.

Robertson was charged Friday with three separate fraud-related felonies -- one of which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

She watched silently and with a frozen expression as the charges against her were read. She was released from jail after posting $5,000 bond.

Her attorney told Target 8 that Robertson thinks this is all a big mix-up.  

"I'm hoping and believing at this point that it's a problem with paperwork," said attorney Frank Stanley.

Stanley said he was hired by Robertson about three months ago because she knew an investigation was going on and she wanted to cooperate. But, he said, he didn't know until today his client was facing a possible two decades in prison.   

"She has a number of children [at her daycare]," he said. "She does a lot for her children. She transports them. She picks them up. She provides bus service for some of these kids. Some of these kids are at her facility for lengthy periods of time. There's an awful lot of paperwork that needs to be completed to do that."

A DHS representative told Target 8 it would not pursue a criminal case like this for a paperwork mix-up.  

The representative said this case is an example of how the agency is cracking down on fraud, saying it will save the State about $100 million this year alone. 

More than half of that savings, Target 8 was told, comes from focusing on people who attempt to defraud the system when they first apply for benefits, rather than later on.  

Robertson's case is now in the hands of the Kent County Prosecutor.