A Minnesota couple is in a world of trouble after being caught drawing welfare benefits from both Minnesota and Florida despite being very wealthy. A two-week manhunt ended with their arrest on Monday.
Andrea Lynne Chisholm, 54, and Colin A.J. Chisholm III, 62, portrayed themselves to neighbors and business associates as Scottish royalty and to aid workers as paupers, authorities say.
They were charged in March with making $167,420 in fraudulent medical and food-stamp claims in Florida and Minnesota from 2005 to 2012, a time when they had several million dollars in bank accounts, owned a $1.2 million yacht and ran a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel pedigree breeding business that produced an award-winning dog at the Westminster dog show.
The two had been the subject of an exhaustive search that ranged from the $1.6 million home they rented on Lake Minnetonka to far-flung warmer destinations that authorities suspected they had fled to. Last week, Minnesota authorities shared their investigative findings with the Miami FBI office and other federal agencies, and Florida ports were alerted to be on the watch for the Chisholms.
On Monday, the two were visited by police in Freeport, on Grand Bahama Island, and told that their visas had expired. Officers escorted the couple, their young son and their dog onto a ship bound for Port Everglades, Fla., where they were arrested.
The Chisholms’ son and dog were turned over to family members.
The Chisholms
waived extradition and will likely be back in Minnesota sometime this week.
The story began in 2012, when insurance company Medica discovered that it had footed the bill for massages at a wellness center in Minnetonka. They did some digging, and discovered that the Chisholms were renting a house in Deephaven, 16 miles west of Minneapolis on the shores of Lake Minnetonka, and paying $2,750 in monthly rent. However, they told Minnesota welfare authorities that they were so down on their luck that they were living with Andrea's mom in Minneapolis.
Eventually, investigators with Medica and the state found out that just about everything on their welfare applications was a lie. Soon after being approved for welfare benefits in Minnesota, they moved to Florida and bought the yacht. They lived there for a little over two years, while drawing welfare from both Minnesota and Florida. While they were still living on the yacht, Andrea became pregnant with their now seven-year-old son--and Minnesota paid for $22,000 worth of medical care during the pregnancy. They continued to draw benefits from both Florida and Minnesota until 2008, when Florida cut them off. Minnesota caught on to the scam in March 2012, when the Chisholms were unable to explain how they cold pay their rent and expenses when they supposedly didn't have any income. As it turned out, they actually had $3 million in the bank, and were funneling money from their businesses through a bank account in the name of Andrea's grandmother. Criminal charges were filed in February.
According to the (Fort Lauderdale) Sun-Sentinel, Hennepin County deputies arrived soon afterward to arrest the Chisholms--only to discover that they'd abruptly left town and pulled their son out of school three months earlier. Florida authorities were tipped off, along with the FBI. Last month, an informant told investigators that the Chisholms were in the Bahamas. From the looks of it, they only realized the game was up when they stepped off the ferry and Broward County deputies were waiting for them.
In Minnesota, people unmasked for welfare fraud usually only get probation on a first offense. However, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman has let it be known he will press for jail time. Florida authorities are also investigating, and are all but certain to file charges of their own as well. From where I'm sitting, anything less than five years in prison for these two will be a joke.