Seaford Couple Among Nine Charged in Welfare Fraud

A Seaford couple were among nine people charged this week with stealing more than $282,000 on bogus Medicaid benefits.

Jie Lin, 34, and Feng Lin, 41, of Seaford, were arrested Dec. 13 and face felony charges of second-degree grand larceny, second-degree welfare fraud and first-degree offering a false instrument for filing.

Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said that between January 2003 and July 2009, the Lins stole more than $68,000 in undeserved Medicaid benefits by claiming to earn between $19,000 and $23,000 annually as employees of a Chinese restaurant. Rice said the couple owned the restaurant they claimed to work at, and had annual deposits into personal bank accounts of between $38,000 and $176,000.

The defendants each face up to 15 years in prison if convicted and are due back in court December 27. The Lins' attorney Joseph Potashnik could not immediately be reached for comment.

Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said the sweep was the result of joint investigations by the D.A’s Public Assistance Fraud Unit and the Nassau County Department of Social Services Special Investigations Unit.

Since 2007, the District Attorney’s Office has uncovered more than $3.4 million in stolen benefits and returned more than $2.1 million to the taxpayer, Rice said.

“Medicaid is designed to provide much-needed healthcare to our society’s most vulnerable members, not to criminals who think nothing of placing their financial burdens on the backs of the taxpayer,” said Rice, adding her office "will continue to find and arrest the scam artists who plague these essential programs."

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.

The other people arrested in the sweep were Noemi Perdomo, 48, of Long Beach; Byung Jun, 42, and Myung Hee Jun, 43, of Plainview;  Shahrzad Mahgerefteh, 41, and Josef Mahgerefteh, 47, of Great Neck;  Jie Lin, 34, and Feng Lin, 41, of Seaford; Heng Ping Lin, 44, and Hui Lan Chen Lin, 46, of Farmingdale.