A York County man who scammed the government by fraudulently accepting nearly $30,000 in Medicaid and food stamps has avoided prison, but was ordered to pay all of that money back.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release that Nagy Mohamed Abdelhamed, 68, was sentenced to two years of probation and ordered to pay $29,337 in restitution.
He pleaded guilty to felony healthcare fraud in federal court in February, and he was sentenced on Thursday, June 27.
A message left for his attorney seeking comment the afternoon of Friday, June 28, was not immediately returned.
In August 2014, Abdelhamed applied for Medicaid as well as food stamps, which are now called Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.
He didn’t disclose in the application the fact that he owned a four-bedroom home, a York-area gas station and a 2008 Mercedes Benz E350, his federal indictment states.
More: Feds: York County man wrongfully received $29K in benefits
More: York man guilty, defrauded feds of about $30K in Medicaid benefits
On disability too: He was already receiving $1,124 a month in Social Security disability benefits and, at the time and had about $56,000 in eight separate bank accounts, according to the indictment.
In his Medicaid/SNAP application, he falsely claimed had no monthly income and owned no property besides his home, the indictment states. He also failed to disclose the money in his bank accounts or his Mercedes, officials said.
He was approved and received both Medicaid and SNAP benefits, officials said.
Less than two weeks after filing for Medicaid and food stamps, Abdelhamed sold his gas station for $172,883, depositing $87,000 of it in a bank account, according to the indictment, which states he never notified the York County Assistance Office of that sale.
Between May and July 2015, Abdelhamed received three wire transfers totaling about $17,500 and failed to report that income, according to the feds.
By August 2015, he had nearly $86,000 in savings in eight bank accounts, but falsely claimed he had no financial resources other than a car worth less than $4,000 and about $1,600 in a checking account, the indictment states.
Collected rent: By January 2017, Abdelhamed was receiving monthly rent of about $1,100 from two college students renting rooms in his home, but did not report that income either, officials said.
His indictment states he falsified, concealed and covered up his income and savings “by any trick, scheme or device” to defraud the federal government.
— Reach Christopher Dornblaser at cdornblaser@yorkdispatch.com or on Twitter at @YDDornblaser.
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