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Five former Brooklyn residents were charged with welfare fraud and grand larceny after falsely claiming they still lived in the borough so that they could collect city Medicaid benefits for years, authorities said yesterday.
The two couples and one woman — who collected a total of $114,000 in Medicaid benefits — also hid ownership of homes and other assets on applications for Medicaid, which is earmarked for poor people, the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office said.
They face up to seven years in prison if convicted.
“There will always be people out there attempting to steal government money,” said DA Charles Hynes. “People are going to get nailed, and they have been nailed.
“Let me be clear: There are plenty more to be indicted.”
One couple, Fouad Fouad, 47, and his wife Nevertity Ibrahim, 39, previously lived in a Dyker Heights apartment, Hynes’ office said. But in late 2005, the couple bought a home in Milltown, NJ, for $273,000 and moved there.
Despite that, after receiving a recertification form from the city Human Resources Administration that had been mailed to their old address, the couple claimed they still lived in Brooklyn, and that their only income was the $300 per week Fouad said he earned as a taxi driver, the DA said.
In reality, the couple also had income from two rental properties they owned in South Amboy, NJ, the DA said.
Prosecutors said the couple would travel to a Staten Island hospital for treatments that included a broken rib by Fouad, and a high fever by their child. Between early 2006 and late 2010, the couple claimed $71,704 in Medicaid benefits to which they were not entitled, an indictment charges.
The other married couple, Tau Sing Chow, 47, and Yue Hao Zhou, 37, allegedly collected $26,449 in Medicaid benefits for themselves and their two kids from 2006 until 2010 by falsely claiming they still lived in Bensonhurst after moving into a $120,000 home in Philadelphia in 2006, authorities said. Chow had also applied for welfare benefits in Philadelphia but was turned down because of his $30,000 in income as a supermarket chef, prosecutors said.
The other defendant, Reyes Lopez, 57, lives in a $400,000 home in Valley Stream, LI, but falsely claimed to still be living in East Flatbush to collect $17,000 in Medicaid benefits for herself and two kids, authorities said. Lopez worked for her husband’s contracting company, and he collects rental income from the Brooklyn home where they used to live.
All five defendants, who are also charged with offering a false instrument for filing, were released without bail after appearances in Brooklyn Supreme Court.