LAKEWOOD – As Ocean County and Federal law enforcement officials continue their investigation into the recent defrauding of Medicaid and other government assistance programs, 12 additional Lakewood residents have been served complaint summons for allegedly collecting thousands of dollars in fraudulent benefits.
As of last week, 14 people had been arrested between June 26 and 27 for collecting roughly $2 million in government assistance benefits they were allegedly not entitled to. A total of 26 people have now been arrested, with today’s charged individuals bringing the total alleged fraud to nearly $2.4 million.
The following couples were most recently served complaint summons for 3rd Degree Theft by Deception by Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office detectives and collaborating agencies:
- Eliezer and Elkie Sorotzkin of West Spruce Street allegedly wrongfully collected approximately $74,960 in Medicaid benefits between January 2011 and December 2013.
- Samuel and Esther Serhofer of Whispering Pines Lane allegedly wrongfully collected approximately $72,685 in Medicaid benefits between January 2009 and December 2013.
- Yisroel and Rachel Merkin of Hermosa Drive allegedly wrongfully collected approximately $70,557.51 in Medicaid, SNAP and HEAP benefits between January 2011 and December 2014.
- Jerome Menchel and Mottel Friedman of Pressburg Lane allegedly wrongfully collected $63,839 in Medicaid and SNAP benefits between January 2011 and July 2014.
- Tzvi and Estee Braun of Ridge Avenue allegedly wrongfully collected $62,746.74 in Medicaid, HEAP and CICRF benefits between January 2009 and December 2013.
- Moshe and Nechama Hirschmann of Emmanuel Drive allegedly wrongfully collected $53,418.39 in Medicaid and SNAP benefits between January 2011 and December 2015.
It is alleged that the charged individuals misrepresented their incomes by claiming amounts that were low enough to benefit from the government programs, when their actual incomes were too high for them to quality. They also failed to disclose on the applications additional income they were receiving from other sources. As a result, the individuals were able to receive government benefits that they and their families were not entitled to.
Additional arrests and charges may result as the cases move through the legal process. If anyone has information about these incidents, they should contact Sergeant Mark Malinowski of the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office at 732-929-2027.
