Three charged in state welfare fraud case

By William Cole
Advertiser Staff Writer

An O'ahu grand jury yesterday indicted a former Department of Human Services worker and her parents on felony theft charges for allegedly defrauding the state out of more than $171,000 in welfare benefits.

Germaine Kam, 36, is charged with two counts of first-degree theft, while her parents, Charlmagne Kam, 58, and Ernest Kam Jr., 61, face a single first-degree theft count, Deputy Attorney General Rick Damerville said.

Ernest Kam Jr. is pastor of His Name is Jesus Tabernacle in the family's Pearl City home, authorities said.

Damerville said Germaine Kam, who monitored welfare case benefits for DHS, withdrew money from ATM machines using "electronic benefit transfer" cards — similar to debit cards — from 21 fictitious welfare recipients. Authorities say Germaine Kam obtained transfer cards from closed cases, but kept the accounts open and increased the number of dependents listed.

Damerville said Germaine Kam defrauded the state of more than $112,000 between July 1, 1998, and July 31, 1999. She also is charged along with her parents with fraudulently obtaining welfare benefits in excess of $59,000 between Feb. 1, 1997, and Nov. 30, 1999, for the parents' claim that they had custody of their daughter's two children and that their daughter did not live with them. Authorities say Germaine Kam did live with her parents. The parents also failed to disclose $30,000 in assets, Damerville said.

The family members will remain free on supervised release.