Rabbi, several others arrested in public benefits fraud case
TRENTON - A New Jersey rabbi and his wife and three other couples defrauded state and federal public assistance programs out of more than $1 million by underreporting their incomes, according to criminal complaints released Monday.
One of the couples continued to receive Medicaid assistance for their children despite making more than $1 million in both 2012 and 2013, according to one criminal complaint. Another continued receiving benefits in 2014, even though they made $1.8 million the year before, prosecutors said.
Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph Coronato said more arrests are expected as a result of the investigation centered on Lakewood, a New Jersey shore town that is home to a large and growing ultra-Orthodox Jewish community.
