HARRISBURG – The Office of State Inspector General and the Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office have charged a former PA Department of Human Services worker involved in an EBT card theft scheme. Eboni Royster and her co-conspirator, Justin Brown, are accused of stealing SNAP and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families benefits from PA DHS clients and selling or distributing them to unauthorized individuals for personal profit. Others are also charged with using EBT cards obtained with the stolen information. Royster, who was employed at the Lancaster County Assistance Office, is charged with committing the crimes by using her access to the PA DHS Client Information System to obtain personal and private information, such as names, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers. An investigation showed that the information was then used to call the PA DHS Electronic Benefits Transfer Hotline and change EBT cards’ PIN numbers. Once this occurred, six victims’ EBT cards were used to complete transactions totaling over $6,570 at retail food stores across Lancaster and York Counties by persons who had no authorization to use them. The investigation is ongoing.
