East Meadow Man Charged With Public Assistance Fraud

An East Meadow man was charged and arrested for public assistance fraud, according to the district attorney's office. 

Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice announced Thursday that 12 people were arrested and charged for stealing more than a combined $370,000 in Medicaid, food stamps, and other taxpayer-funded public assistance benefits.

The arrests were the result of joint investigations by the District Attorney’s Public Assistance Fraud Unit and the Nassau County Department of Social Services Special Investigations Unit.

Eric Engvaldsen, 48,  was arrested on April 26 and pleaded guilty to third-degree welfare fraud in late May. Rice  said that between July 2011 and February 2012, Engvaldsen stole more than $15,000 in Medicaid, food stamps, and public assistance benefits for his household by falsely reporting income of $35 per shift at a fictitious pizzeria. In reality, he worked as an executive chef at a Williston Park restaurant. 

“Public assistance programs are designed to provide basic necessities to the less fortunate, not to scam artists who think nothing of padding their own wallets on the backs of the taxpayer,” Rice said. “Hiding your success to abuse a program like Medicaid is deplorable, and my office will continue to collaborate with our fellow agencies to not only arrest these criminals, but to secure the repayment of every stolen dollar.”

“Our Investigations Unit continues to work tirelessly to root out waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer dollars,”County Executive Edward Mangano said. “These arrests should serve as further warning that anyone who cheats our taxpayers will be apprehended and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”