Massachusetts EBT cards were used in elite hotels in Hawaii: report
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On 18 different occasions in 2019, a Massachusetts EBT card was swiped in Hawaii — including one that was used twice at a posh island resort where rooms fetch $800 a night, a report published Monday said.
The Boston Herald said it reviewed more than 2 million EBT expenditures over the past year and found thousands of out-of-state transactions that included withdrawals in Las Vegas and Alaska.
The Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards are issued to needy citizens who qualify and are replenished monthly.
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The state's Department of Transitional Assistance bars cardholders from using the cards for vacation services — but hotels are not banned. According to the Herald's report, in one instance an EBT card was used to buy a $700 round-trip ticket from the state to Hawaii.
The paper said it reached out to the agency about the out-of-state spending and did not get an explanation. The agency did not immediately respond to an after-hours email from Fox News.
State Rep. Shaunna O’Connell told the paper the card's use to buy tickets to Hawaii is "outrageous."
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"We shouldn’t see expenditures at five-star resorts. If there are ongoing expenditures in Hawaii that is a huge problem and needs to be investigated by the DTA," she said.
A DTA spokeswoman told the paper the agency monitors out-of-state usage to determine whether the person moved to a new state. The agency has also employed new methods of protecting against fraud by blocking locations "where cash assistance use is prohibited."