SCRANTON, Pa. — Scranton’s former executive director of economic and community development surrendered Tuesday at Lackawanna County Central Court to face criminal charges alleging she fraudulently collected thousands of dollars in public assistance.
The Pennsylvania Office of State Inspector General said Selina Andiappan misrepresented her household income to the Lackawanna County Assistance Office to collect more than $18,000 in ill-gotten benefits.
Andiappan, 32, also submitted two pay stubs last September — when she worked as the city’s OECD executive director — that claimed her gross pay each check was a little less than $1,600. In reality, her gross pay actually was $2,500, according to a criminal complaint.
Investigators said she depressed her wages to maintain eligibility for public assistance benefits.
Andiappan was hired by the city in May 2022 as a redevelopment specialist and was promoted to director of the OECD office in June last year, officials said. She received a pay raise in January to $75,000.
Magisterial District Judge George Seig arraigned her on two felony counts of forgery and false statements. She was released on $50,000 unsecured bail and has a preliminary hearing tentatively scheduled for April 9.
"The allegations against this individual are serious, and, if true, clearly do not align with the standards we demand of our public employees," city Solicitor Jessica Eskra said in a statement. "Upon learning of the investigation in this matter, City officials fully cooperated with law enforcement and within hours accepted Ms. Andiappan’s resignation and terminated her access to City Hall and its technology."
"We have no reason to believe that the alleged misconduct occurred through her official capacity or that the City was impacted in any way, financially or otherwise," Eskra continued.
Andiappan's attorney, Bernie Brown, spoke with Newswatch 16 after the arraignment, saying his client is remorseful about what happened.
"We're going to do everything we can to make restitution and put this behind her and do everything we can to put Selina in a good position to move forward from this," Brown said.