6 More Arrests As Lakewood Fraud Raids Continue: Prosecutor

LAKEWOOD, NJ — Six more people were arrested Tuesday night on charges of defrauding the government out of more than $670,000 in the ongoing investigation into public assistance fraud in Lakewood, the Ocean County prosecutor's office said Wednesday.

The arrests of Yitzchock Kanarek, 33, and Sora Kanarek, 39; Chaim Ehrman, 40, and Liatt Ehrman, 39, and William Friedman, 45, and Faigy Friedman, 45, happened shortly before midnight Tuesday night, the prosecutor's office said.

Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato and State Comptroller Philip James Degnan, in a joint announcement, said the arrests, like the ones Monday, relate to charges of defrauding Medicaid and government assistance programs.

Initial hearings for the three couples are scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Wednesday in Ocean County Superior Court, the prosecutor's office said.

The Kanareks, of Brisk Lane, are charged with second-degree theft by deception, accused of wrongfully collecting at least $339,002.56 in Medicaid, SNAP, HUD, and SSI benefits between January 2009 and July 2014, the prosecutor's office said.

The Ehrmans, of Twin Oaks Drive, are charged with second-degree theft by deception, accused of wrongfully collecting at least $185,692.22 in Medicaid, SNAP, HEAP (a utilities assistance program) and Superstorm Sandy benefits between January 2011 and December 2015, the prosecutor's office said.

The Friedmans, of Leigh Drive, are charged with second-degree theft by deception, accused of wrongfully collecting at least $149,842.28 in Medicaid, SNAP, HEAP, and HUD benefits between January 2011 and December 2015, the prosecutor's office said.

In all three cases, the couples are accused of misrepresented their income, declaring amounts that were low enough to receive the program’s benefits, when in fact their income was too high to qualify, and that they received income from numerous sources that they failed to disclose, prosecutor's office said. All three couples are being prosecuted on the state level, they said. Additional charges are possible, the prosecutor's office said.

The investigation is continuing and more arrests expected, the prosecutor's office said.

According to a report in the Asbury Park Press, Tuesday night's raids originally were planned for Wednesday morning, but were pushed up after a media report on Tuesday afternoon revealed they were imminent.

The raids reportedly have caused residents to call Ocean County Social Services in Toms River to cancel their public assistance or update their income information, according to the Asbury Park Press.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact Sergeant Mark Malinowski of the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office at (732) 929-2027.

Photos via Ocean County Prosecutor's Office