Biglaw, Crime

Biglaw Wife Accused Of... Welfare Fraud?

She allegedly collected more than $100,000 in benefits -- while her husband earned millions.

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woman begging beggar two hands cuppedUPDATE: Please note the UPDATE, a statement from Mayer Brown, appended to the end of this post.

We’ve all heard the expression “corporate welfare.” How about… Biglaw welfare?

These allegations are hard to believe, but also hard to ignore. From NBC:

An Arlington woman was arrested this week and charged with four counts of welfare fraud for collecting over $100,000 in benefits – all while her husband was a high-earning attorney in D.C., police say.

Police say a six-month investigation into Helen Agbapuruonwu, 41, found that the mother of four had collected benefits like food stamps and Medicaid assistance for the past six years.

While Helen was collecting benefits, her husband, Fidelis Agbapuruonwu, was earning $1.5 million per year as a lawyer, according to court documents obtained by News4.

That’s a very nice chunk of change. Where was Fidelis Agbapuruonwu supposedly raking in all this dough?

Fidelis’s LinkedIn page claims he works for the D.C. firm of Mayer Brown, but today the firm said he no longer works there. Court officials believe Fidelis, a Nigerian immigrant, has “fled the country and is somewhere in Africa.”

That LinkedIn profile, which we’ve posted in full on the next page, claims that Fidelis Agbapuruonwu won a prestigious Soros Fellowship, graduated from Ohio State Law in 2002, and then joined Mayer Brown. It lists his title as “Associate,” though, which makes the $1.5 million figure a bit puzzling — seven figures for an associate is pretty unheard of. Perhaps the $1.5 million was the cumulative total earned by Fidelis over the six-year period in which Helen allegedly collected benefits?

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Despite widespread public beliefs to the contrary, the incidence of welfare fraud is very low. But high-profile cases like this one make headlines, stay in people’s memories, and fuel the view that millions are improperly claiming entitlement to public assistance.

Law enforcement authorities trumpet cases like this one for purposes of deterrence. As Arlington County Police spokeswoman Ashley Savage told NBC of the Agbapuruonwu allegations, “We hope it sends a message that if you are taking public assistance it’s truly intended for those in need, and we’re committed to ensuring those who need the most help receive it.”

How are people who know the Agbapuruonwus reacting?

The director of the pre-school the Agbapuruonwu’s children once attended said she is shocked by the allegations against family.

“I have to believe it’s not true,” she said.

There has to be something more going on here, no? If Fidelis Agbapuruonwu is living in Africa now while Helen Agbapuruonwu remains in Virginia with four children, perhaps the Agbapuruonwus are divorced or separated, and Fidelis isn’t paying alimony or child support. But even if this (highly speculative) theory is correct, one then must wonder whether Helen made any effort through legal channels to get money from Fidelis — and, if so, whether any such effort was successful.

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As of now, we don’t know Helen Agbapuruonwu’s side of the story. Her defense lawyer declined to comment to NBC.

We’ll continue to keep an eye on this story. If you know Fidelis or Helen Agbapuruonwu and have information to share, please feel free to email us or text us (646-820-8477).

UPDATE: Mayer Brown issued the following statement:

Helen’s husband, Fidelis, was an associate at Mayer Brown from September 2006 until June 2011, when our relationship with him came to an end. While we cannot disclose his earnings, please note that he was an associate at the firm throughout his tenure.

(Flip to the next page for the LinkedIn profile of Fidelis Agbapuruonwu, which we’ve preserved in case it gets taken down sometime soon.)

Virginia Woman Charged With Welfare Fraud [NBC4 Washington via Morning Docket]
Wife Of DC Lawyer Worth $1.5 Million Arrested For Taking Food Stamps, Welfare [Daily Caller]
Crime Report: March 10, 2017 [Arlington Newsroom]
Fidelis I. Agbapuruonwu [Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships]

DBL square headshotDavid Lat is the founder and managing editor of Above the Law and the author of Supreme Ambitions: A Novel. He previously worked as a federal prosecutor in Newark, New Jersey; a litigation associate at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz; and a law clerk to Judge Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. You can connect with David on Twitter (@DavidLat), LinkedIn, and Facebook, and you can reach him by email at dlat@abovethelaw.com.

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