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03
KINGS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY CHARLES J.
HYNES AND NEW YORK
CITY
HUMAN RESOURCES ADMINISTRATION COMMISSIONER ROBERT DOAR
ANNOUNCE WELFARE FRAUD INDICTMENT
MARRIED COUPLE CONCEALED OWNERSHIP OF 10
BUILDINGS ON
MEDICAID APPLICATIONS
Brooklyn,
June 29, 2011 –
Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes and New York
City Human Resources Administration Commissioner Robert Doar
today announced the indictment of a married couple charged
with concealing the fact that they owned 10 buildings in
Brooklyn and Staten Island, in order to collect Medicaid for more than
five years.
“These defendants clearly have the means to buy their
own health insurance, but greed led them to falsify their
income and steal from a program designed to help the poor
get needed healthcare,” said District Attorney Hynes. “My
office will seek maximum jail time and full restitution in
this case. I would like to thank Commissioner Doar and HRA
for their help in this investigation.”
“HRA has a responsibility to all New Yorkers to ensure the
integrity of the Medicaid program,” said Commissioner Doar.
“Those who intentionally conceal information to obtain
benefits for which they are not eligible will be prosecuted
to the fullest extent of the law. I want to thank Brooklyn
District Attorney Hynes for his continued dedication to
pursue those who commit Medicaid fraud.”
Salah and Miriam Abdelrahman, both 51, are charged
with fraudulently collecting $43,702 in Medicaid benefits,
between January 1, 2006 and May 1, 2011. The couple is
charged with claiming no assets and income ranging from $0
to $225 per week, on annual Medicaid applications. In
reality, they owned eight properties in Brooklyn and two in
Staten Island, earning them up to $20,000 per
month in rental income, according to the investigation. On
an August 2009 mortgage application, Salah listed the total
value of his assets at more than $4.1 million and his
monthly income as $8,576, while in the same year, he listed
having no assets and $0 income, on a Medicaid application,
according to the investigation. The couple is also charged
with claiming on a 2008 Medicaid application that Salah
earned $225 per week as an employee of the Janeen Food
Market Corp., at 4005 9th Ave., Brooklyn, the New York Sate
Department of State Records lists him as the owner and CEO
of the store.
Charges against the defendants include Welfare Fraud in the
Third Degree, Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, and
Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree.
If convicted of the top count, Welfare Fraud in the Third
Degree, both defendants face a maximum of seven years in
prison.
An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a
defendant’s guilt.
DA Hynes thanked HRA officials who worked on the case,
including Peter Jenik, Executive Deputy Commissioner of
Investigation Revenue and Enforcement Administration; Alida
Mattos, Assistant Deputy Commissioner; Frank Pira, Assistant
Director; Michael Santangelo, Investigator.
The case is being prosecuted by Senior Assistant District
Attorney Sabrina Thanse of the Public Assistance Crimes
Unit. Lauren Mack is Chief of the Public Assistance Crimes
Unit.
Contact:
Jonah Bruno
(718) 250-2300
02
KINGS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY CHARLES J.
HYNES ANNOUNCES INDICTMENT OF TWO MEN CHARGED WITH SEX
TRAFFICKING AND TWO OF THEIR ASSOCIATES CHARGED WITH RAPE
FORCED VICTIM INTO PROSTITUTION AT AGE 13
Brooklyn,
June 29, 2011 –
Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes today
announced an indictment charging two men with forcing a
13-year-old girl into prostitution, in 2003, and continuing
to rape, assault and sexually traffic her for the next eight
years. Two of their associates are also charged with raping
the victim.
District Attorney Hynes said, “Since creating the Sex
Trafficking Unit last year, my office has indicted more than
26 traffickers and helped numerous victims. If you or anyone
you know was victimized by these four defendants, I
encourage you to call the Brooklyn Sex Trafficking Unit
Hotline, at (718)250-2770. If you are a victim, we will
protect you. If you are a pimp, we will catch you, and when
we do, we will aggressively prosecute you and seek the
maximum sentences.”
Defendants Damien Crooks, 31, and Jamali Brockett,
27, first met the victim in 2003, when she was 13, and they
both raped her in a neighborhood park, according to the
indictment. After that encounter, Crooks and Brocket began
forcing her to have sex for money and beating her, raping
her, and forcing her to perform sexually humiliating acts
when she refused, according to the indictment. The
indictment charges that they threatened to harm her family
if she went to police. On one occasion, Crooks, Brockett,
and Brockett’s brother, Jawara Brockett, 33, raped her on
the roof of a building, while her brother waited outside,
unaware of the attack, according to the indictment. On
another occasion, the indictment charges, Crooks took her to
a party to recruit other girls, but when she refused, he and
Darrell Dula, 24, raped her.
Crooks
faces charges including Four Counts of Rape in the First
Degree and Two Counts of Sex Trafficking. Charges against
Jamali Brockett include Rape in the First Degree, Compelling
Prostitution in the Second Degree, and Criminal Sex Ace in
the First Degree. Jawara Brockett and Darrell Dula are
charged with Rape in the First Degree.
An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not
proof of a defendant’s guilt.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District
Attorney Kathleen Collins and Chief of the Sex Trafficking
Unit Lauren Hersh. Michael Vecchione is Chief of the Rackets
Division.
Contact:
Jonah Bruno
(718) 250-2300
01
KINGS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY CHARLES J.
HYNES ANNOUNCES INDICTMENT OF AUTOBODY SHOP, ITS OWNER AND
AN EMPLOYEE ON INSURANCE FRAUD CHARGES
“PERFECT COLLISION” CHARGED IN DAMAGE
ENHANCEMENT SCHEME
MORE THAN $700,000 IN CASH SEIZED
Brooklyn,
May 26, 2011 –
Kings County
District Attorney Charles J. Hynes today announced an
indictment charging a Borough Park autobody shop, Perfect Collision,
with intentionally damaging cars brought in for repairs, so
it could submit inflated bills to insurance companies.
Perfect Collision; its owner, Elie Berger; and his employee,
Hershy Greenberger are charged with running a so-called
“damage enhancement scheme” to over bill insurance companies
by thousands of dollars.
In the indictment announced today, the defendants are
charged with submitting inflated bills for repairs to a car
insured by Geico, but prosecutors believe additional
insurance companies and carriers may have been victimized as
well. The investigation is continuing.
“These crooks thought they had found the ‘Perfect’ crime,
but my Detective Investigators quickly put the brakes on,
preventing another bogus collision.” said District Attorney
Hynes. “Auto-insurance fraud costs
Brooklyn
residents hundreds of thousands of dollars each year in
increased premiums, and my office will prosecute all such
crimes to the fullest extent of the law. I would like to
thank Geico, Esurance, and the National Insurance Crimes
Bureau for their assistance in this investigation.”
To investigate Geico’s suspicion about Perfect
Collision, KCDA Detective Investigators damaged a car’s
front passenger-side fender, photographed the damage and
brought the car to Perfect Collision. The indictment charges
that Hershy Greenberger assured an undercover Detective
Investigator that Geico would cover all the repair costs.
When a Geico claims adjuster arrived to photograph the
damage, it had been “enhanced”, according to the indictment,
with another dent in the same fender and other damage.
Greenberger and Berger are charged with making the
additional damage to increase the bill and fraudulently
charge Geico for the repairs. Perfect Collision is also
charged with billing Geico more than $1,000 for a rental
car, in an undercover’s name, even though the undercover
told Greenberger that he did not want a rental car for the
week of the repairs.
While another Geico claims adjuster was at Perfect
Collision to photograph another car car, he happened to spot
a minivan he had been assigned to photograph for the company
the following day. Without notifying Perfect Collision, he
took pictures of the minivan, which had little to no damage.
The following day, when he returned to take official
photographs for Geico’s records, there was new, extensive
damage to the fender, driver side door and other areas,
according to the indictment.
Detective Investigators executing search warrants on
Perfect Collision and Berger’s home recovered more than
$700,000 in cash, a 2011 application for public assistance
claiming Berger earned $350 per week as an employee of
Perfect Collision, and business records. Evidence recovered
in the searches will be used to investigate other crimes the
defendants may have committed, including insurance fraud and
welfare fraud. The investigation is continuing.
An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not
proof of a defendant’s guilt.
The case was investigated by Detective Investigator
Glen Kenny, supervised by Deputy Chief Rackets Investigator
Greg Deboer. Joseph Ponzi is Chief Rackets Investigator.
The case is being prosecuted by Joseph A.
DiBenedetto, Rackets Division Deputy Bureau Chief. Michael
Vecchione is Chief of the Rackets Division.
Contact:
Jonah Bruno
(718) 250-2300
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