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New York (New York Daily News) – A Bronx woman who committed one of the borough’s biggest ever cases of benefits fraud got off with five years’ probation Tuesday after paying back a hefty chunk of cash.Parvattie RaghunandanParvattie Raghunandan,Brett Favre Packers Jersey UK, a Guyanese immigrant who misrepresented her family’s income for a decade — netting thousands in fraudulent Medicaid payments — received the jail-less sentence in Bronx Supreme Court after paying back over $85,000 and pleading guilty to grand larceny.The fraudster had received well over $50,Brett Favre Falcons Jersey UK,000 in city Medicaid benefits between 2006 and 2013, court papers state,DeAngelo Williams Steelers Jersey UK, even though her family was far above the poverty line.A spokesman for the city Human Resources Administration,Greg Lloyd Steelers Jersey UK, whose data crunchers started the probe,Deion Jones Falcons Jersey UK, said that no one in the agency could recall a bigger case of Bronx benefits fraud.Raghunandan’s husband,Tony Gonzalez Falcons Jersey UK, Ramesh, owns two buildings in the borough and another in Pennsylvania, according to state records.The family also runs an electrical contracting business on Morrison Avenue in Soundview and shared a joint bank account worth over $100,James White Patriots Jersey UK,000, investigators found.Raghunandan’s lawyer,Tom Brady Patriots Jersey UK, Todd Spodek, said that many new immigrants sign up to receive benefits without fully understanding the requirements.“Unfortunately,Ty Montgomery Packers Jersey UK, this scenario is all too common in immigrant communities,” he said. “Often families in need of assistance are not provided adequate guidance as to the disclosure requirements for Medicaid and other subsidized welfare programs.”City data heads had flagged Raghundandan’s case as bizarre and worth investigating because she had only applied for Medicaid and not other types of benefits common for her family size and income, officials said.But Spodek argued that HRA’s data analysis “fails to take into consideration the human component and leads investigators into believing inadvertent mistakes are evidence of actual fraud.” |
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