Over the course of four years, police say a Warsaw man committed welfare fraud valued at over $10,000.
Cheyenne Ritenour, 36, of 1829 Rosemont Ave., Warsaw, was arrested this morning for welfare fraud, a class C felony.
In June 2009, Ritenour applied for Unemployment Compensation Benefits in Whitley County, stating that he had been laid off from his job. He began to receive $314 per week, according to the probable cause affidavit provided by the Kosciusko County Prosecutor’s Office. He reported that he changed his address to Warsaw Dec. 31, 2009. He continued to file for unemployment benefits through June 7, 2014.
During the time Ritenour received benefits, he was required to submit information to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development every week. On March 11, 2015, an investigator for the IDWFD found payroll information for Ritenour. Noted were weekly earnings from Gulf Stream Coach Inc., Personnel Source Inc., Forest River Inc. and six other local companies. These jobs corresponded with the time he was filing for unemployment.
Since Ritenour did not accurately report his employment and earnings from 2010 to 2014, he was overpaid $14,394 that he was not entitled to.
He was booked in the Kosciusko County Jail with a $10,250 bond.
