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Partly Cloudy Long Beach resident among nine charged with Medicaid fraud
D.A. seeks full restitution from defendants who allegedly stole more than $282,000 from taxpayers
The Nassau County District Attorney’s office announced Friday that nine people — including a Long Beach resident — were indicted for stealing more than $282,000 in taxpayer-funded Medicaid benefits.
According to a press release, the sweep was the result of a joint investigation by the District Attorney’s Public Assistance Fraud Unit and the Nassau County Department of Social Services Special Investigations Unit. Since 2007, the District Attorney’s Office has uncovered more than $3.4 million in stolen benefits and returned more than $2.1 million to taxpayers.
Among those arrested was Noemi Perdomo, 48, of Long Beach. According to the D.A.’s Office, Perdomo was arrested Dec. 6 and charged with second-degree grand larceny, second-degree welfare fraud and first-degree offering a false instrument for filing.
According to District Attorney Kathleen Rice, between January 2004 and October 2010, Perdomo stole more than $98,000 in “undeserved” Medicaid benefits by claiming a weekly family income of $800 to $1,000. Perdomo failed to disclose the income from her husband’s landscaping business, her husband’s purchase of two houses in Florida, and annual deposits into personal accounts of between $84,000 and $221,000.
Perdomo faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted, and is due back in court Feb. 6. Her attorney, Joseph Lee, was unavailable for comment on Friday.
“Medicaid is designed to provide much-needed healthcare to our society’s most vulnerable members, not to criminals who think nothing of placing their financial burdens on the backs of the taxpayer,” Rice said in a statement. “My office’s Public Assistance Fraud Unit will continue to find and arrest the scam artists who plague these essential programs.”
Also charged were Byung Jun, 42, and Myung Hee Jun, 43, of Plainview, Shahrzad Mahgerefteh, 41, and Josef Mahgerefteh, 47, of Great Neck. All were charged with third-degree grand larceny, and face up to seven years in prison if convicted.
Additionally, Jie Lin, 34, and Feng Lin, 41, of Seaford, and Heng Ping Lin, 44, and Hui Lan Chen Lin, 46, of Farmingdale, were all charged with second-degree grand larceny and face up to 15 years in jail if convicted.
