Nassau Woman Stole $72,200 From Medicaid: District Attorney

A Nassau County woman, who was the former owner of a day care center in Brooklyn, was arrested on Monday and charged with stealing tens of thousands of dollars in Medicaid benefits and failing to pay tens of thousands more in taxes, the district attorney said.

Yvette Diaz-Juarez, 49, of East Meadow, was charged with second-degree welfare fraud, second-degree grand larceny and repeated failure to file personal income and earnings taxes. She was released on probation and is due back in court on Nov. 28. If convicted, she could face up to 15 years in prison.

In addition, her husband, Carlos Juarez, 49, was charged with repeated failure to file personal income and earnings taxes. He is also due back in court on Nov. 28, and could face up to four years in prison.

“As these defendants earned a comfortable income from their Brooklyn daycare business, they allegedly defrauded the taxpayers by claiming public assistance to which they were not entitled,” District Attorney Madeline Singas said. “Medicaid funds lifesaving medical care for those in need, and we have no tolerance for anyone who steals undeserved benefits from government programs that provide a safety net.”

Diaz-Juarez was the former co-owner of Raindrops Daycare in Park Slope. Singas said that she stole $72,046.29 in Medicaid payments from the Nassau County Department of Social Services between June 2009 and December 2015 by falsely filling out recertification forms and documents where she purposefully under-reported her household income.

Signas said that, during the time period, Diaz-Juarez's gross income ranged between $47,463 and $234,671 -- amounts that made her ineligible for benefits. Because of her false filings, she was paid money she was not entitled to.

In addition to the fraud, Singas said that Diaz-Juarez and her husband, who was the co-owner of the daycare, also didn't file personal income taxes from 2011 through 2013, and failed to pay the $36,000 in taxes owed on their combined income.

Singas said that the couple spent the money they stole from Medicaid on mortgage and car payments, as well as trips to Las Vegas and Florida.

The Nassau County Department of Social Services began the investigation, and then turned it over to the DA's office in December of 2017. The couple surrendered to DA investigators on Nov. 12.

Photos courtesy Nassau County District Attorney's Office