Oceanside woman charged with fraud

Nancy Figueroa, 41, of Oceanside, was arrested on May 29 and charged with Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, Welfare Fraud in the Third Degree, and Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree.

According to Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice, between September 2006 and December 2011, Figueroa allegedly stole more than $21,000 in Medicaid benefits by underreporting her income and failing to disclose that she owned a house cleaning business. She faces up to seven years in prison if convicted.

Rice announced that Figueroa was among 12 people who were arrested and charged with stealing more than a combined $370K in Medicaid, food stamps, and other taxpayer-funded public assistance benefits.

“Public assistance programs are designed to provide basic necessities to the less fortunate, not to scam artists who think nothing of padding their own wallets on the backs of the taxpayer,” Rice said. “Hiding your success to abuse a program like Medicaid is deplorable, and my office will continue to collaborate with our fellow agencies to not only arrest these criminals, but to secure the repayment of every stolen dollar.”