Friendship man faces felony, other counts in suspected welfare fraud case

The Cattaraugus County Sheriff's Office Tuesday morning arrested Anival Otero, Jr., 34, of 41 Depot Street in Friendship. Following an investigation into a complaint from the Department of Social Services (DSS) of suspected welfare fraud, deputies arrested Otero and charged him with two counts of felony first-degree offering a false instrument for filing. According to a press release, the charges were the result of Otero allegedly submitting documents to DSS with falsified information. The complaint was filed in 2018. In a separate case, also from 2018, Otero was charged with petit larceny, welfare fraud and felony first-degree offering a false instrument for filing. He turned himself in and was released on an appearance ticket for Olean City Court on October 6th.