Lakewood Vaad Says Amnesty May Have Recovered Millions Of Dollars

LAKEWOOD, NJ — With the window for applications to the state's Medicaid amnesty program now closed, members of the Lakewood Vaad said the state likely is recovering millions of dollars in repayment and fines.

The Asbury Park Press reported the Vaad, the group of rabbis who are the religious leadership in the Orthodox Jewish community in Lakewood, said the participants in the program, which closed Tuesday, are paying steep penalties, "even for those who erred with no malice."

The program, officially named the Ocean County Recipient Voluntary Disclosure Program, was spawned in the wake of the arrests of 13 couples this summer on charges of what authorities say amounts to more than $2 million in public assistance fraud.

State Comptroller Phillip Degnan said the program is a way to recoup money without straining already strapped investigative resources.

"Our goal is to bring those in Ocean County who were not in compliance with Medicaid eligibility requirements into compliance and to have them make full restitution of all improperly received funds," Degnan said.

State officials have not released results on how many applicants the program had or how much money has been recouped, but the Vaad, in a statement published by the Asbury Park Press, said that if even "one-tenth of 1 percent of Lakewood’s 130,000 residents participated, that would translate into well over 100 residents who stepped up to the program," and when penalties are included, millions of dollars may have been recovered for the taxpayers.

"We all share a common goal," Rabbi Moshe Zev Weisberg said in the statement. "We all believe that every taxpayer dollar spent should be within the full letter and spirit of the laws that govern their distribution. We will continue to work tirelessly to ensure that all in our region live up to the highest level of ethics and legal compliance."

The amnesty program angered many residents in neighboring communities, many of who have clamored for stiff penalties for those arrested on the fraud charges in June and July. None of those arrested in those sweeps were eligible for the amnesty program.

Several of those cases have been referred to the grand jury for possible indictment, the Press reported.

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