No wonder attendance was so spotty.
A Queens couple enrolled phantom children in their publicly-funded day care programs — billing taxpayers for at least a dozen students who weren’t enrolled, an investigation found.
The duo, Nareesa and Saied Mohammed, allegedly bilked the Department of Education of more than $35,000 through four day cares operating under the names “Nareesa’s Day Care” and “Beanstalk.”
The pair has had Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK) contract agreements with the city totaling nearly $2 million, running from 2009 through 2014, according to an online database.
“The Mohammeds registered at least 12 children who did not attend the UPK programs… and submitted false attendance forms and invoices to receive payment,” concluded the report by the Office of the Special Commissioner of Investigation.
Reached by phone, Saied Mohammed said “I don’t want to comment.” Nareesa could not immediately be reached.
When the couple met with investigators, their attorney advised them not to answer questions and said that if they had falsely billed the DOE — on two or three occasions — “it was done in error and not intentionally,” the report says.
The probe was launched in June 2011 when the operations manager for the DOE’s early childhood development wing raised concerns about the billing out of the South Richmond Hill day cares.
The findings of the lengthy investigation were forwarded to the Queens District Attorney’s office for possible prosecution.
“The Department of Education reported the suspected fraud in June 2011 and immediately stopped making payments,” said a DOE spokeswoman. “We did not register students with them last September, and are actively working to recoup the money owed to the Department.”
She added that Nareesa’s contract was not renewed as planned last year.