The city’s Department of Investigation, the FBI and the United States Attorney’s office each investigated the alleged foul play, which is said to involve two employees and 11 associates. In one portion of the scheme, Cherrise Watson-Jackson, a supervisor in Jamaica, Queens, was said to have issued extra funds on Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program cards allowing an associate to purchase bulk quantities of the energy drink Red Bull, which was sold, in turn, to local grocery stores at a profit.
Commissioner of the Human Resources Administration, Steven Banks, said of the matter: “Unfortunately, a very small portion of our 14,000 employees used their positions at our agency to steal the benefits of others. HRA found and referred all of these … cases to the DOI after discovering them through internal anti-fraud measures.”