LEWISTON — An Androscoggin County grand jury has returned an indictment against Kathleen M. Schidzig, a South Portland woman who faces charges of defrauding state benefit programs of $10,000 over two and a half years.

The charges come as Maine Attorney General Janet T. Mills has begun cracking down on fraud cases involving abuse of state safety-net programs.

Grand juries in Androscoggin, Cumberland and Franklin counties have returned indictments over the past two weeks regarding fraud by state program recipients, according to a statement released Tuesday by the Maine Attorney General's Office.

The AG's office has hired a new fraud prosecutor "to pursue additional cases of abuse," according to the statement. Assistant Attorney General Peter Black, a graduate of Fairleigh-Dickinson University and the University of Georgia and a former U.S. Navy lieutenant, has been working with the AG for a month, "but has already brought several indictments for the misuse of various state-administered programs," the statement said.

An indictment is an official charge based on evidence presented by a prosecutor to a citizen jury.

The indictment handed up last Wednesday against Schidzig charges one count of theft by deception, one count of aggravated forgery and three counts of unsworn falsification. The alleged crimes occurred between Oct. 30, 2007, and Feb. 1, 2010, according to the indictment.

The charges stem from an alleged attempt to defraud the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and Additional Support for People in Retraining and Education programs. The prosecution has charged that Schidzig defrauded these programs of more than $10,000.

In the past year and a half, according to the statement released Tuesday, the Attorney General's Office has successfully prosecuted 13 individuals for recipient fraud. The cases included abuse of the TANF and ASPIRE programs, as well as diversion of Electronic Benefits Transfer cards and misuse of food stamps, the MaineCare program and housing benefits.

In the past fiscal year, according to the statement, the Attorney General's Office has "recouped more than $7.6 million ... from the misuse of health care safety net programs by providers," much of that resulting from recoveries related to "illegal practices by pharmaceutical companies who obtained taxpayer dollars through improper marketing of drugs."

"Maine's taxpayers should not tolerate people who abuse the system, big or small, rich or poor," Mills said. "We all want a government that is accountable and wise. Taxpayers deserve no less." 

The statement urged anyone with specific information about fraud at hospitals, nursing homes or other health care institutions to call the Attorney General's HealthCare Crimes Unit at (207) 626-8870.

The Maine Department of Audit has had a fraud hotline since 2008. Any citizen who has specific information about fraud or abuse or other improper or illegal acts against the state should call the fraud hotline at (207) 624-6250 or e-mail that office at fraud.audit@maine.gov.