Couple Lied To Get $150,000 In Medicaid, Food Stamps, Prosecutor Says

An Ocean County couple has been charged with theft by deception after an investigation showed they received more than $150,000 in Medicaid and food stamps that the family was not entitled to, Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato said Tuesday afternoon.

Yosaf Laskin, 43, was charged with second-degree theft by deception, and his wife, Gila Neger, 42, was charged with third-degree theft by deception, said Al Della Fave, spokesman for the prosecutor’s office. The couple lives in Lakewood and they were arrested Tuesday, he said.

Investigators from the prosecutor’s office, with assistance from the NJ State Comptroller’s Office, alleged Laskin failed to indicate accurate income information on applications he made for Medicaid benefits, resulting in him and his family receiving benefits in excess of $145,000 to which they were not entitled, Della Fave said.

Neger’s charges stem from failing to provide accurate income information in regard to applications for food stamp assistance, ultimately receiving benefits for herself and her family in excess of $5,500, he said.

They were arrested at their South Lake Shore Drive home about 7:30 a.m., Della Fave said.

Superior Court Judge Wendel Daniels set bail at $75,000, no 10 percent, for Laskin, and at $5,000, no 10 percent for Neger. Both are in the Ocean County Jail, Toms River, in lieu of bail, according to jail records.

(Photos courtesy Ocean County Corrections Department)