A Brooklyn couple has been charged for swindling Medicaid and food stamp benefits. Avraham Baror and his wife Rivka pleaded not guilty after being accused of scamming the system for over 100,000 dollars in welfare benefits.
According to the Assistant District Attorney, the Baror’s are accused of using a variety of aliases to collect benefits. They were suspected by Human Resources Investigator, Thomas Toth, who became suspicious after Rivka came in to apply for benefits under an alias name that couldn’t’ be found in the system. Toth also believed she was almost too familiar with the process, having applied for benefits under her real name. Not to mention, her photo and fingerprints were on file.
According to the New York Daily News,
“The prosecutor said Rivka submitted a fraudulent letter from her purported landlord claiming that the couple rented an apartment on E. 2nd St., but they actually owned the attached home. HRA Commissioner Robert Doar pointed out that the alleged crooks were flush with cash for themselves with the tens of thousands of dollars they were stealing from the truly needy. Investigators seized $72,700 in cash and 1,500 in euros from two safety deposit boxes controlled by the Barors. Their credit card statements showed they were living it up at restaurants, movie theaters, and shopping at Home Depot, Ikea and Victoria’s Secret.”
The Baror’s deny it.
Rivka claims to be employed as a babysitter, while her husband says he drives a limousine. They chalked up their luxury cars– a BMW and a Lexxus, both purchased in the past six years – as cars bought by their son.
“It’s bull—-,” Avraham said of the charges. “Ninety nine percent not true. Look — I’m walking out of here a free man.”
Time will tell. The couple returns to court next month.
I hope this pop up on Yahoo!