Woman Charged In Medicaid Fraud Scheme: Union County Prosecutor

LINDEN, NJ — A Linden woman has been charged with theft and tampering with records in what officials say was a years-long scheme to steal Medicaid money, the Union County Prosecutor's Office said.

Officials arrested Leslie K. Lassen, 39, on May 23, according to a news release from Prosecutor William A. Daniel's office. The prosecutor's office, acting on a tip from the New Jersey Medicaid Fraud Division, began investigating Lassen in June 2020, the news release said.

"The exhaustive investigation that followed revealed that between January 2015 and December 2019, Lassen filed numerous falsified documents with Medicaid in which she under-reported her household income," Daniels said in the news release. "Based upon those fraudulent submissions, Lassen stole nearly $350,000 in public funds that she wasn’t entitled to."

Lassen was charged with one count of second-degree theft and two counts of third-degree tampering with records, Daniel's office said.