Lakewood Medicaid cheats stay home; amnesty meeting attracts few

TOMS RIVER - At the 3,208-seat Pine Belt Arena, only a handful of people showed up Tuesday night to learn more about a Medicaid fraud amnesty offer – a program spurred by the arrests of 26 Lakewood residents earlier this summer on charges of benefit theft following a multi-agency investigation.

What authorities hoped for was that the event would entice those who either purposely or inadvertently received unwarranted Medicaid benefits to come clean, and begin paying back the government.

Instead, about three dozen people who said they were sick of hearing about public assistance scams attended. And they accused authorities of going soft on crime during a heated question-and-answer exchange.

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Lakewood resident Molly Hernon, after she and others grilled State Comptroller Philip James Degnan for over an hour, said that the audience was "thoroughly disgusted'' with the amnesty offer.

Watch the video at the top of the story for an explanation of how people can enroll, and hear a complaint about the amnesty program.

Hernon complained that there are people "getting away with absconding my taxpayer monies, when there are other people in Lakewood, in Ocean County, who deserve the assets, deserve the Medicaid.''

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The information session on Tuesday night wasn't mandatory for people who want to come clean, but authorities had braced for a much bigger turnout, holding the meeting in the large multi-purpose arena.

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The 26 Lakewood fraud arrests earlier this summer prompted authorities "to come up with a way to address a larger issue,'' Degnan told attendees after being asked if Lakewood residents are getting a pass. The township has a growing Orthodox community and clashes over changing culture and community identity continue to affect the region.

Degnan said the decision to offer an amnesty program rather than pursue prosecutions is based on a calculus that includes a limit to available manpower for investigations.

"If your main concern with the program is that people aren't going to jail, jail is not the likely outcome no matter what,'' said Degnan, noting that first-time offenders in many instances are offered pre-trial intervention (PTI), a probationary program that results in dismissal of charges upon completion.

"For this period of time, we believe we can more effectively serve our mission by running a program like this,'' he said.

A program application form and instructions, along with a sample settlement agreement, is being posted on the Office of the State Comptroller's website at www.state.nj.us/comptroller. Applications must be sent in no later than Dec. 12. The program is open to Ocean County residents.

Authorities said they have reason to believe the program will be popular. The June raids by state and federal authorities in Lakewood prompted hundreds of people to call town leaders to ask how to get off public assistance or if they were on the wrong side of the law. Also, about 1,000 people seeking guidance attended a panel session on public assistance in July.

The amnesty program has created a furor on social media, with many posters on Twitter and Facebook calling for full prosecution of those who knowingly accepted benefits they weren't entitled to.

"I am sorry but these people knew exactly what they were doing,'' said a Facebook user, posting to the Asbury Park Press account. "They should go to jail, pay back the money they STOLE, not be allowed ever to receive public assistance. I have a disabled husband who is denied services who has been an honest hardworking man his whole life and can't get help. Shame on these people. This just really upsets me.''

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A spokesman for Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph Coronato said the agency's hands are tied.

"For all those who feel OCPO is not doing enough with regard to Lakewood Fraud prosecutions the answer is simple: We do not have access to the NJ State Comptroller Office program files,'' said Coronato spokesman Al Della Fave in a statement. "They oversee the programs application and implementation process. It is like any other victim of financial crime or fraud; we will not know they are victim of criminal activity unless they tell us. If a victim comes forward, we investigate and prosecute on their behalf.''

Della Fave said of the State Comptroller's Office: "The amnesty program came from them. We have no authority to mandate or monitor how a state agency does business.''

Bob Jordan bjordan@gannettnj.com