E. Meadow couple, six others, charged with fraud

A sweep targeting county residents who steal undeserved Medicaid and public assistance benefits has resulted in the arrest of eight people who collectively stole more than $297,000.

Marwan Awad, 50, and Lana Nasrallah, 43, of East Meadow were arrested May 26 and charged with second-degree grand larceny, second-degree welfare fraud and six counts of offering a false instrument for filing. Rice said that between January 2005 and December 2010, Awad and Nasrallah stole more than $60,000 in undeserved Medicaid benefits. The couple failed to report the ownership of two Nassau County homes, personal bank accounts containing more than $230,000, and the ownership of their own business, All Phase Mechanical. They each face up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

The sweep was the result of joint investigations by the District Attorney’s Public Assistance Fraud Unit, the Nassau County Department of Social Services, and Health and Human Services Medicaid Investigations Unit.

“The burden on every honest taxpayer weighs heavier when people abuse government assistance programs,” Rice said. “My office will continue to work with our partners in state and local government to find, arrest, and convict those who steal from a healthcare system designed to protect the most vulnerable members of our society.”

Medicaid provides free public health insurance to more than 40 million low-income individuals nationwide. It is funded jointly by federal, state, and county governments. Restitution from fraud cases, such as these, is returned to the funding agencies, with approximately 25 percent going to the state and another 25 percent going to the local county. 

Also charged in the sweep were:

Gul Ahmed, 38, of Levittown; Roopinder Ghai, 37, and Sachin Mehrotra, 34, of Hicksville; Ramin Tehrani, 39, and Diana Rubinov, 26, of Great Neck; Lisa Kogut, 47, of Rosedale, Queens;

“These arrests should serve as a warning that anyone who tries to cheat the taxpayers of Nassau County by committing Medicaid fraud will be apprehended and prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” County Executive Edward P. Mangano said. “Nassau County will root out, deny and when necessary prosecute individuals who are not entitled to benefits or who receive benefits through criminal behavior. I commend the Department of Social Services and District Attorney Rice for their collaboration in bringing these individuals to justice.”

The U.S. Government Accountability Office estimates that 10 percent of health care spending is lost to fraud and abuse. Nassau County spends in excess of $1 billion per year to fund its portion of the Medicaid mandate and New York State’s $52.6 billion annual bill is more than any other state in the country.