Scamming couple must pay back for taking advantage of the visually impaired

A former state worker in charge of helping the blind pleaded guilty along with her husband Wednesday for falsely billing the state nearly 500 times for transportation they never gave to visually impaired people in the state's care.Now the couple are repaying $115,000.

The scam was tripped up when the state official, Martha Juarez, 44, complained that the state was taking too long to pay. A whistleblower thought something was amiss and tipped off the state's executive inspector general's office.Martha Juarez was a coordinator for the Illinois Department of Human Services Bureau of Blind Services at its Milwaukee Avenue office in Chicago.

Juarez and her husband, Carlos, 46, agreed Wednesday to pay restitution for the theft and were sentenced in Cook County court to 4 years' probation. Authorities found Martha Juarez submitted vouchers for up to $300 each on behalf of her husband for providing rides to visually impaired people from 2001 to 2005.