Woman gets year in prison
in welfare fraud case

Her parents also are punished
for taking some stolen benefits

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By Debra Barayuga
dbarayuga@starbulletin.com

A former Department of Human Services employee was sentenced to a year in jail and five years probation for stealing more than $130,000 in welfare benefits.

Circuit Judge Marie Milks also ordered Germaine Kam, 36, to pay restitution of $130,450 and perform 200 hours of community service.

Milks also sentenced Kam's parents, Ernest A.F. Kam and Charlmagne L. Kam to five years probation for fraudulently obtaining more than $53,000 in welfare benefits.

They were also each ordered to pay restitution of $17,000 and perform 100 hours of community service.

Germaine Kam, 36, was responsible for monitoring welfare recipients to ensure they qualified for public assistance. With her knowledge of how the system worked, she maintained client accounts that had been closed, increased the amount and type of benefits but kept the money for herself, according to the state.

She also created 21 fictitious welfare recipients and withdrew money from their accounts using the electronic benefits transfer cards.

Milks summed up Kam's actions in one word: egregious. She said six months in jail sought by the state was not enough.

In ordering a longer jail sentence, Milks noted that Kam breached the trust of the state and her coworkers and intentionally created 21 fictitious welfare recipients to steal their benefits. "There are enough needy people without fabricating 21 needy people," Milks said.

Deputy Attorney General Rick Damerville said the Kams used the stolen money to maintain a lifestyle that included trips to Vegas, making lease payments on five cars at one time and maintaining the gambling lifestyle of Germaine Kam and her boyfriend.

"This is a case where these people were money-poor but car-rich," Damerville said.

Ernest Kam, 61, is a pastor of his own church, the His Name Is Jesus Tabernacle in Pearl City. His wife Charlmagne, 58, was a church secretary.

Their attorney, Michael Green, described the Kams as basically good people who have led good lives in the community until they wound up in this situation.

The parents are accused of failing to list a $30,000 workers' compensation settlement in their application for public assistance that would have made them ineligible. They also failed to disclose her income and that their daughter was living with them.

The Kams were on public assistance on and off since 1991. At one point, their benefits were cut off after they failed to provide adequate documentation when questioned about the number of cars they were making payments on. But daughter Germaine went into the benefits system using the passwords of four fellow coworkers and reactivated her parents' account, Damerville said.

Charlmagne and Ernest Kam both acknowledged their guilt before the court. Germaine Kam apologized to her former coworkers and the state for losing their trust in her and to her family for the hurt she has put them through.