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Philly DHS Worker Accused Of Stealing Nearly $18,000 Worth Of SEPTA Tokens

By Tony Hanson

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Charged with caring for some of Philadelphia's most vulnerable citizens, local authorities allege a former DHS Manager stole from the agency again and again and again.

Authorities say DHS first suspected something was wrong a year ago after Manager Shamira Hawkins-Worthey sought 300 Septa tokens, supposedly for DHS clients, over a two day period.

Philadelphia Inspector General Amy Kurland says an audit then showed Hawkins-Worthy had obtained over ten thousand tokens over the previous nine months.

"Six hundred and forty requests and over 11,000 tokens, that is about $17,700. It is virtually impossible to need that many tokens in the course of a DHS administrator's job."

And authorities allege after Hawkins-Worthey was reassigned during the investigation she collected overtime by fraud, claiming to have worked on cases that were closed or did not exist at all in the database.

Authorities say the defendant surrendered earlier today. It could not be determined immediately if she has an attorney.

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