Rochester woman fraudulently received more than $73k in government assistance: Charges
ROCHESTER, Minn. (FOX 9) - A Rochester woman was charged after she allegedly received over $73,000 in government assistance she did not qualify for.
Welfare fraud charges
What we know:
According to court documents, Michelle Miller, 56, has been charged with several counts of wrongfully obtaining assistance.
The charges state that in March 2026, Rochester police began investigating Miller's alleged welfare fraud that dated back to 2010. Investigators say that Miller fraudulently applied for benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP), the Child Care Assistance Program (CCA), and Emergency Assistance (EA).
To receive these benefits, it is required to report all household members' incomes. Investigators from the Olmsted County Family Support and Assistance (FSA) believed Miller knew what the requirements were, but she still provided false information about her employment, her children's employment, her son's social security benefits and her household composition, court documents say.
Timeline:
In February 2015, Miller submitted an application form for assistance that said she was married to a man, and continued to report her husband's income until February 2017, when she submitted a new form. That new form stated that her husband had moved out.
But, on Oct. 31, 2017, Miller and her husband closed on a new home in Rochester, where they still live. The charges say that Miller's benefits would have been greatly reduced if she had put her husband's income on her application.
Investigators found that her husband had been employed since 2005 until 2019, when he was laid off for a brief amount of time before being rehired. The husband's employment record showed he lived at Miller's home.
In March 2026, investigators set up a pole camera outside Miller's home, and it showed her husband living with her.
On Aug. 7, Miller was arrested at her home. She then told police she had three adult children living at home, who all work and contribute to household expenses.
Miller allegedly admitted to not reporting her oldest child's income, but she did report the income of the other two adult children, court documents say. Miller said her husband lives with her from "time to time" but said he does not live at the home full-time.
Miller also told the investigator she "just had too much on her plate, and she needed to feed her children and have health coverage."
By the numbers:
Since October 2019, Miller has allegedly received over $73,000 in benefits she did not qualify for.
What's next:
Miller's first court appearance is scheduled for Feb. 4, 2027.
The Source: Court documents out of Olmstead County.