Miami ? Two women who took care of Rilya Wilson, the little girl whose disappearance exposed disarray in Florida’s child welfare agency, were charged Wednesday with stealing $14,000 in public assistance, in part by accepting payments for Rilya after she had vanished.

Geralyn and Pamela Graham, who say they are sisters, were arrested along with Geralyn Graham’s adult son and daughter.

They were not charged in the girl’s disappearance.

“We think that the people we’ve arrested today are the people that most likely know the whereabouts of Rilya Wilson,” said Doyle Jordan, a regional director for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. “We are operating under the assumption she’s alive.”

The Grahams stole $14,257 worth of food stamps and welfare by lying about family income and by accepting payments for Rilya after the girl had disappeared, authorities said.

Geralyn Graham, 56, was arrested as “Jane Doe” because she has more than 40 aliases and authorities said they are not sure of her real name. Authorities said they had no proof the Grahams are sisters.

Rilya whose sixth birthday was Sunday lived with Geralyn Graham, who had claimed to be her paternal grandmother, and Pamela Graham, who had legal custody, from April 2000 until January 2001. Geralyn Graham said that in January 2001, a state child-welfare worker took Rilya away for evaluation, never to be seen again.

The girl was supposed to receive monthly state visits but was not reported missing until April 25 because of a bureaucratic blunder. The 15 months that elapsed before the girl’s disappearance was noticed caused a scandal in Florida’s Department of Children & Families.

Pamela Graham, left, and her sister Geralyn Graham appear at a hearing in Miami in this June 17 file photo. The Grahams and two relatives were charged Wednesday with illegally collecting public assistance funds.

The case resulted in the resignation of top child welfare administrators, including the agency’s secretary, Kathleen Kearney.

Geralyn Graham was charged with public assistance fraud, forgery and and other offenses and was held on $600,000 bail. Pamela Graham was charged with grand theft, welfare fraud and aiding and abetting public assistance fraud; she was held on $140,000 bond.

Geralyn Graham’s son, Leo Epson, was charged with grand theft and making a false statement, while her daughter, Jacqueline Epson, was charged with public assistance fraud. Leo Epson was being held on $25,000 bond; his sister was being held on $5,000 bond. It was not known whether the Epsons have attorneys.

All four suspects were scheduled for initial court hearings today. Each faces a maximum five years in prison.

Prosecutors say the four became proficient at prying money from public and private agencies by filing false claims, including Geralyn Graham’s forgery of Rilya’s custody and immunization records. They also said Epson and Pamela Graham fleeced an institution for the homeless when he claimed he needed rent money because she was about to evict him.

Geralyn Graham has a long history of criminal and civil court cases. She has been a lay pastor and a managed care worker, ran her own business and was once charged with bouncing checks. In Tennessee, she served two years in prison for a 1985 food stamp fraud conviction.

In reams of court documents, lawyers have questioned whether Graham is a con artist or severely mentally impaired. A judge thought both might apply.

In July, the child welfare agency acknowledged losing track of 532 children in its care. It suffered more embarrassment when a newspaper found 22 of them by checking public records and doing other minor legwork.

The reward for information leading to Rilya’s return was raised Wednesday from $75,000 to $100,000.