Day Care Closed Because of Alleged Food Stamp Fraud

WFTV 9 in Orlando, Florida, reports that a day care operation in DeLand shut down last weekend because the owner allegedly allowed a client to pay their fee with food stamps, then used the food stamps to buy materials for the day care center.

Chelsea Romero, the owner of Playskool Day Care, is accused of buying $200 worth of items with the food stamps.

When the beginning of the week came and parents saw Romero packing up and closing the venue, they were irate and called local police. Police said that the case was a civil matter and revealed Romero had been under investigation for months because of suspicions that she had committed food stamp fraud. Hearing of the investigation, the Early Learning Coalition revoked Romero’s state and federal funding for public assistance programs.

That loss of funding prompted Romero to close the day care center, alleged Christopher T. Byrd, Romero’s attorney, who asserted that Romero is innocent of any wrongdoing. Byrd added the investigation into the fraud is no longer ongoing, but officials with the Early Learning Coalition disagreed, stating they’re still investigating.

Byrd’s statement read: “The allegations are unfounded and any investigations concerning those allegations have been closed by the appropriate state authorities. Children’s Playskool is currently litigating the ELC’s unilateral refusal to renew the contracts based upon these false allegations.