Elmont woman caught in Medicaid fraud sting

Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice announced the arrests on Friday, March 5, of 7 county residents for defrauding the government of more than $250,000 in Medicaid benefits.

One woman, Marouza Parveen, 40, from Elmont, was arrested and charged with grand larceny, welfare fraud and offering a false instrument for filing.

“These defendants had millions in the bank and owned businesses and rented properties, yet still wanted more,” Rice said in a statement announcing the arrests. “They greedily took advantage of a system designed to help those who are truly in need. My office will hold each and every one of these thieves accountable and ensure that every penny they stole is returned to the people of Nassau County."

According to Rice's office, Parveen received nearly $50,000 in Medicaid benefits that she did not qualify for. Parveen allegedly filed a claim that her husband earned $325 a week working at a bagel store, neglecting to mention that she and her husband were the store's co-owners.

As well, Rice said Parveen claimed that she and her husband rented their home, paying $650 a week to do so.

The truth, Rice said, is that Parveen and her husband also co-own their home, and earn more than $2,400 every month by renting out the basement and the second floor to tenants.

Parveen could face as long as seven years in prison.

She was just one among seven alleged offenders arrested in the sting. A couple from Roslyn Heights with more than $2 million in their combined bank accounts collected more than $250,000 in Medicaid benefits.

With health care — including Medicare and Medicaid — in the news constantly, many politicians are hoping to see a step up in enforcement of the laws against Medicaid fraud, something many leaders think is a leading cause of waste in the health care system.

State Sen. Kemp Hannon announced last Monday that he will be chairing a task force seeking ways to improve the state's medicaid system, including ways to root out and eliminate fraud.

"Medicaid costs New York State taxpayers a billion dollars per week,” said state Sen. Hannon said.  “This means it is costing taxpayers over fifty-two billion dollars per year.”

Hannon said that finding the fraud in the Medicaid system is a vital cost-containment measure, and one that will be at the front and center of the task force's efforts.

More than $3.5 million in fraud has been uncovered by Rice with her a special fraud detection unit of her own, which is less than three years old. It has been responsible for 61 arrests for fraud since April 2007.