York Man Charged With Medicaid Fraud

HARRISBURG – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that Nagy Mohamed Abdelhamed, age 68, of York, Pennsylvania, was indicted on September 19, 2018, by a federal grand jury on one count of health care fraud and six counts of false statements in health care matters.  The indictment was unsealed following Abdelhamed’s arrest.

According to the United States Attorney David J. Freed, the indictment alleges that on August 13, 2014, Abdelhamed applied for Medicaid and SNAP (formerly known as Food Stamp) benefits with the York County Assistance Office in August of 2014, even though he owned a four- bedroom residence in York, a gas station in York, a 2008 Mercedes Benz E350 automobile, received $1,124 a month in Social Security disability benefits, and held approximately $58,500 in eight different bank accounts.

The Indictment further alleges that on August 22, 2014, Abdelhamed sold his gas station for $172,883 and deposited $87,016 of the sales proceeds into a bank account.  Abdelhamed did not notify the York County Assistance Office of the sale or his receipt of the sales proceeds. According to the Indictment Abdelhamed continued to receive Medicaid and SNAP benefits into 2018 and as a result, fraudulently obtained approximately $29,337 in benefits, including approximately $20,338 in Medicaid benefits.

The case was investigated by the Harrisburg Offices of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General. Assistant U. S. Attorney Kim Douglas Daniel is prosecuting the case.

Indictments and Criminal Informations are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court.

A sentence following a finding of guilt is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the Judge is also required to consider and weigh a number of factors, including the nature, circumstances and seriousness of the offense; the history and characteristics of the defendant; and the need to punish the defendant, protect the public and provide for the defendant's educational, vocational and medical needs. For these reasons, the statutory maximum penalty for the offense is not an accurate indicator of the potential sentence for a specific defendant.

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