December 13, 2007

Hempstead Woman Arrested for Medicaid Fraud

Rice says that Wimberly lied about taking care of elderly aunt, stole more than $200k in Medicaid benefits

MINEOLA, NY – Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice announced this morning that Margaret Wimberly, 39, of Hempstead, has been arrested and charged with illegally collecting more than $200,000 in Medicaid benefits that were supposed to pay for the in-home care of Ms. Wimberly’s 90-year-old aunt.  From 2001-2006, the defendant filed weekly statements with a company contracted to provide the elderly woman with care.  The statements indicated that the defendant worked at her aunt’s side eight hours per day, seven days per week.  An investigation revealed that the aunt was left unattended in an upstairs bedroom without air conditioning while the defendant worked full-time at a Garden City insurance company.

The defendant was also charged Wednesday with welfare fraud as a result of lying to the Department of Social Services on a public assistance application that allowed her to collect more than $10,000 in benefits from February 2005 to June 2006.  On the application, the defendant listed her bogus job with the company contracted to provide her aunt’s medical care, Concepts of Independence.  If the defendant had accurately reported her employment and salary at the insurance company as well as additional income she had received from various rental properties, she would have been ineligible to receive the day care benefits.

““Public assistance and Medicaid are finite government resources of critical importance,” said Rice.  “When you cheat the system you are not only stealing from the taxpayers, you are denying someone in need the ability to provide for themselves and their families.  This office will not tolerate the theft of taxpayer dollars.  Period.”

Ms. Wimberly was arrested Wednesday morning by District Attorney Investigators and has been charged with Welfare Fraud in the Second and Third Degrees, Grand Larceny in the Second and Third Degrees, Health Care Fraud in the Third Degree, Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree and Endangering the Welfare of an Incompetent or Physically Disabled Person, and Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree.

Nassau County Department of Social Services Commissioner Dr. John Imhof noted that, "DSS continues to work cooperatively with the District Attorney's office in rooting out public welfare fraud. If you try and cheat the system in Nassau County, you will be eventually caught and prosecuted to the full extent of the law."

The defendant faces a maximum of 15 years in prison if convicted of the most serious charge, the welfare fraud.  She was arraigned Wednesday afternoon in First District Court, Hempstead, where a judge set bail of $2,000 bond or $1,000 cash and ordered her to return to court December 18.