Welfare Couple Livin’ Large

A Seattle chiropractor and his wife live in a $1.2 million waterfront home and have spent the past eight years flying to Moscow, Paris, Israel, Turkey, Mexico and the Dominican Republic – all while collecting more than $100,000 in welfare. The U.S. attorney’s office is suing David Silverstein and Lyudmila Shimonova, accusing them of filing false claims and demanding they pay back more than $135,000 in federal housing assistance dating back to 2003. Prosecutors are also seeking tens of thousands of dollars in fines. In gaining Section 8 housing assistance, Shimonova claimed that she lived alone with her two children and that her household assets were less than $5,000. Silverstein received the monthly benefits of $1,272 as Shimonova’s purported landlord. Shimonova also received benefits under the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, as well as Social Security cash reserved for people who can’t work due to age or disability and whose assets fall below a certain threshold. The investigation included surveillance of the three-bedroom, 2,300-square-foot home on Lake Washington, during which agents observed his black Jaguar parked there.