What the…? Millionaire Couple Busted for Receiving Welfare Benefits
Investigators and authorities have learned that a Seattle couple lived in a million-dollar home and traveled the world, all while collecting more than $135,000 in welfare benefits.
Lyudmila Shimonova allegedly got Section 8 housing assistance starting in 2003 by saying she lived alone with two children and that her household assets were less than $5,000. Her husband, chiropractor David Silverstein, then claimed to be her landlord and has received her monthly benefits of $1,272 for more than eight years.
Shimonova also received Social Security disability income and benefits under the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. In addition, she allegedly failed to disclose her marriage and bank accounts in her name containing tens of thousands of dollars.
Meanwhile, the pair lived in a three-bedroom, 2,300-square-foot home on Lake Washington — valued at $1.2 million — owned a Jaguar, and took vacations to Moscow, Paris, Israel, Turkey, Mexico and the Dominican Republic.
The US attorney’s office has now filed suit against the couple, demanding they repay the money they received and tens of thousands of dollars in fines — specifically, $11,000 in fines for each false claim made.