Tag: welfare fraud

Maine: Rule change could reduce welfare for some immigrants

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Update December 29th:  Be sure to see Daniel Greenfield’s article on Somalis and welfare in Maine at Frontpage magazine.

In 2009 we wrote a post which has become one of our most-visited posts at RRW (Tenth most visited with 9,088 views).  It is entitled, ‘Somali Migration to Maine: it’s the welfare magnet, stupid.’   I’ve wondered since then what Maine was doing with its giveaways that made it so attractive.  This article in ‘The Portland Daily Sun’ gives us some hint.

The Maine Department of Health and Human Services is proposing a rule change to bring Maine’s welfare program in line with federal guidelines that require 5 years of residency before a legal immigrant (non-citizen) can access the program and of course a legal outfit is challenging the proposed rule. (Refugees get welfare right away, see our ‘fact sheet’ for more on how that works).

The Portland Daily Sun (emphasis mine):

A legal advocacy group has warned city and state officials that a proposed rule change at the Department of Health and Human Services could cut off benefits to members of Maine’s immigrant population.

Robin Merrill, a senior policy analyst with Maine Equal Justice Partners, met with members of the Portland City Council and the legislative delegation on Monday and talked about a proposed rule change that could cause some members of the immigrant community to lose general assistance.

“This would be devastating for Portland and for Lewiston,” Merrill said.

The rule being proposed by DHHS would block anyone from receiving general assistance if they do not qualify for federal assistance, like Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and the Maine Food Supplement program, because of citizenship status.

The rule change was proposed to align Maine’s public assistance programs with federal ones, according to DHHS, and the federal government does not provide coverage for legal non-citizens until five years after their arrival. The state will no longer fund general assistance for that population, DHHS said, though municipalities may still use their portion to assist them.  [Newly resettled refugees get all the available federal government programs right away—ed]

DHHS will hold a public hearing on the rule change on Jan. 10 at its Augusta office, and written public comment will be accepted until Jan. 24.

Here is the website for the Maine DHHS.  I did a quick search and didn’t find a reference to this meeting, but if you are a Mainer, and wish to comment, call them!

Related story:  Earlier this month Gov. Paul LePage charged that there is extensive welfare fraud going on in Maine, and here a women’s group criticizes the governor for saying such a dreadful thing about poor innocent people in Maine.   Just for fun I typed the words ‘Maine fraud’ into our search function and up popped pages of posts with Maine fraud stories—food stamp, medicaid, housing, etc.

Britain plagued by immigrant welfare “tourists”

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

What can you expect when a country is larded over with one program after another to help the so-called downtrodden?  In the US, we too have increasingly developed and expanded programs for the destitute—I’m thinking specifically of food stamps and medicare/medicaid (Obamacare!)—where some sharp ‘entrepreneur’ has figured out, or will figure out, how to game the system.

Remember those NHS dancing nurses in the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics? Was it one colossal advertisement to the world—come on over for your free healthcare!

Here are two stories from the UK over the last week that tell us how ‘out of control’ things are there.  The second story reports on attempts by Parliament to rein-in “health tourism” by immigrants who are arriving illegally to get benefits from Britain’s great attraction—its National Health Service.

From the UK Telegraph (“Gang flew in benefit tourists!”):

An immigrant gang flew in scores of ‘benefit tourists’ to Britain, setting them up with houses and jobs, so they could steal hundreds of thousands of their tax credits.

A family of immigrants posed as interpreters to fly benefit tourists over to Britain so they could steal their tax credits, cheating HMRC out of £500,000.

The group flew in people from Eastern Europe and set them up in a house and low-paid job in exchange for their tax credits, which they pocketed.

Sisters Iveta and Magdalena Ferkova, 32 and 33, along with their aunt Alena Lackova, 39, and her husband Jan Lacko, 29, organised National Insurance numbers and housing to complete the scam over two years.

They managed to steal £500,000 in tax credits from HMRC, posing as interpreters for the workers they flew over when doing interviews in banks and at job centres.

All four were found guilty of conspiracy to commit fraud by making false representations.

Read it all.

And, here Parliament is considering a new law to restrict health tourism!

From Catholic Online:

LONDON, UK (Catholic Online) – If you are a foreigner visiting England, be prepared to show proof of citizenship before being given a NHS number, the item you need to receive free health services in the country.

A bill designed to cut down on health tourists and illegal immigration has been presented to Parliament as part of a package designed to crack down on people who are residing in the country illegally.

According to the bill, doctors will first have to check the immigration status of a patient who does not have a NHS number before they are authorized to provide treatment. Naturally, the proposal has doctors, among others upset. Doctors resent that they could be forced to participate in immigration enforcement.

Others say that healthcare should be provided no matter what. Defenders of the bill say that emergency care is still ensured.

England has become a destination for health tourists, foreigners who travel to the country to have procedures done for various reasons. These health tourists then receive the benefits of the national healthcare system but without having to pay any of the costs. To break down this practice, Parliament would pass a law that would ensure they must pay to access the system.

Pay attention America!

 

More refugee crooks (Somalis) in Kentucky; Rand Paul where are you?

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

The only US Senator I’ve ever seen question the Refugee Resettlement Program of the US State Department is Senator Rand Paul.  He recently got in trouble with the mainstream media types when he said, ‘they [contractors] bring’em in and put them on welfare,’ here.  Those Iraqi refugee terrorists found in Bowling Green first got his attention, here.

Note to the Senator’s staff:  this is one more account of grateful (not!) refugees in Kentucky to add to your list!

Thanks to unofficial reporter ‘pungentpeppers’ for the link.

AP at Kentucky.com:

He got only 6 months!

Abdalla Hajisufi, a good father, ripped off every welfare program he could find!

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A Somali man was sentenced Tuesday to six months in prison and six months of house arrest for leading an illegal prescription drug distribution ring and selling the stimulant khat while using a check-cashing scheme to launder more than $6 million from a Louisville storefront.

U.S. District Judge John G. Heyburn II in Louisville also ordered 43-year-old Abdalla Hajisufi to repay the state $119,000 for underreporting his income while claiming eligibility for food stamps.

Heyburn sentenced Hajisufi’s son, 20-year-old Mohamad Hajisufi, a native of Kenya and a University of Louisville student, to a year of probation for playing a minor role in the plot.

The two pleaded guilty in June to conspiring to distribute the painkillers oxycodone and hydrocodone between November 2011 and March 2012 to customers at their business, the Hana Store.

Son Mohamad Hajisufi got probation. Likely back in college on your dime!

Abdalla Hajisufi also pleaded guilty to managing and owning an unlicensed money transmitting business operating out of the Hana Store. Hajisufi admitted to cashing payroll checks from employees of a temporary employment agency, and deducting a small fee for the transaction, without complying with the licensing and registration requirements of Kentucky state laws.

The FBI said Hajisufi cashed nearly 107,000 payroll checks totaling more than $6.6 million from July 2006 through December 2010 at the Hana Store.

Ripped off every welfare program he could find before leaving the country!

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Snyder said Abdalla Hajisufi ran a drug dealing operation, an illegal business and spent time “ripping off every available welfare program” before being indicted and fleeing the country in 2012.

[…..]

The father and son were fugitives from the FBI until their arrest on January when they attempted to re-enter the United States on a flight from Europe at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport. The two fled the country after being charged in May 2012 and missed their scheduled arraignment a month later.

Defense:  Cut him slack, he is a poor refugee who took good care of his wife and seven kids (with the help of criminal activity and the ‘infidel’ taxpayers!)

Abdalla Hajisufi’s attorney, Mark Chandler, asked Heyburn for some leniency in sentencing. Chandler described his client as a Somali native who fled to snake-infested Kenyan refugee camps before arriving in the United States. Since then, Chandler said, Hajisufi has maintained steady employment and taken care of his wife and seven children.

They were also selling Khat (a favorite illegal drug of Somalis).  Read the whole article.

See also, refugee welfare cheat sentenced in Maine yesterday.

Immigrant welfare fraudster sentenced in Portland, ME

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Jail for two months then supervised release!

This is an update of a story we first reported back in May about Dafle Abdullahi Ali (we think he is Somali but my search just now for any reference to his nationality or a photo turned up nothing).

Maine the welfare magnet! Once again there is no photo readily available of the criminal in the case, so we resort to illustrating this post with what the mainstream media uses when they want to hide a criminal’s nationality—some innocuous photo.

Here is the news from the Sun Journal (hat tip: Michael):

PORTLAND (AP) — A Portland man who pleaded guilty to making false statements to obtain Medicaid, foods stamps and federal housing assistance funds while drawing a six-figure salary is going to prison for two months.

A judge also ordered Dafle Abdullahi Ali to pay restitution and sentenced him to two years of supervised release.

Prosecutors said Ali received MaineCare benefits and food stamps from 2008 and 2009 while he was owner of Home Health Care Solutions, which provided home-based care to the elderly and disabled. Prosecutors say he was making more than $100,000 a year but told the state he was making about $36,000 a year.

Judge D. Brock Hornby said Ali’s crimes were not victimless, noting that others who were truly needy were denied services because of the defendant’s actions.

For a better understanding of what the crook did to rip-off the infidels, see the May press release from the US Attorney’s Office in Maine.  You will see too that ICE was involved in the investigation—so what is his immigration status?  They never tell us!

 According to court records, in 2008 and 2009, Ali was an owner of and the director of
finance for Home Health Care Solutions, a Portland company that provided home based personal
care services to the elderly and disabled under the Maine Medicaid (MaineCare)
program. During that period, Ali also received MaineCare benefits and food stamps. On
February 19, 2009, Ali signed a form that he submitted to the Maine Department of Health and
Human Services (MDHHS) certifying that his joint income was only $1,382.50, paid bi-weekly
(about $36,000 per year), and that he only owned one bank account with a $1.00 balance. In
fact, Ali received more than $100,000 per year in income and had $48,000 in four bank
accounts.

Between August 2006 to November 2008, Ali and his family resided in a public housing
unit administered by the Portland Housing Authority (PHA). The U.S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development (HUD) paid a portion of Ali’s rent based on a formula that considered
the amount of income and assets reported by Ali to PHA. Over that period, Ali underreported
his income and assets to PHA and illegally received over $22,000 in rent subsidies.

According to U.S. Attorney Delahanty, Ali fraudulently received and stole about $46,585
in MaineCare, food stamps and HUD benefits. Ali faces up to 5 years in prison on the false
statement charge, up to 10 years on the theft charge, and fines of up to $250,000 on each
charge. He will be sentenced after completion of a pre-sentence investigation report by the U.S.
Probation Office.

So much for a stiff sentence for Mr. Ali!

For new readers, this 2009 post about Maine as the welfare magnet for Somalis is one of our most-read posts of all time.

Multi-use welfare fraudster pleads guilty in Maine

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment
Maine! It’s the welfare magnet!

Wow!  This guy, (name sounds Somali, but couldn’t find a photo), not only ripped-off the food stamp program, but subsidized housing and medical care too!

Read all about it here at the Portland Press Herald.  Normally I don’t want to post a whole article, but when I went to various news outlets for the story I noticed they all (but this one) seemed to leave out one or another of his frauds, almost as if they didn’t want to list all of them for some reason.  So, this, below, is the article with the most complete list.

Besides the media’s usual penchant for not telling us the whole story including the immigration status and nationality of immigrant/refugee crooks, I am continually amazed at the audacity and ‘skill’ of many of the immigrant scammers—where do they learn to do this?

From reporter Scott Dolan at the Portland Press Herald:

Federal prosecutors say Dafle Abdullahi Ali lived in public housing, received food stamps and got Medicaid benefits while earning $100,000 a year.

PORTLAND — A Portland man pleaded guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court to making false statements to obtain Medicaid and food stamp benefits, and to theft of federal housing assistance funds.

Dafle Abdullahi Ali, 46, is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 26 by Judge D. Brock Hornby. Ali faces up to five years in prison on the false statement charge, up to 10 years on the theft charge, and fines of up to $250,000 on each charge.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, in 2008 and 2009 Ali was co-owner and director of finance of Home Health Care Solutions, a Portland company that provided home-based personal care services to elderly and disabled persons under the Maine Medicaid program. During that period, Ali also received MaineCare benefits and food stamps.

In February 2009, Ali signed a state form claiming he earned about $36,000 a year and had no savings, when he actually earned more than $100,000 and had $48,000 in bank accounts, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release.

Between August 2006 and November 2008, Ali and his family lived in Portland public housing. He under-reported his income to the Portland Housing Authority and illegally received more than $22,000 in rent subsidies, the release said.

Ali also fraudulently received and stole about $46,585 in MaineCare, food stamps and federal Housing and Urban Development benefits, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Isolated case?  I doubt it!  We’ve had other such cases in Maine.  Type ‘Maine’ into our search function to learn more. Read especially, ‘Somali migration to Maine, it’s the welfare magnet, stupid!’ here.   Some Somalis went to Maine on their own initiative, others were resettled there by Catholic Charities.

If anyone finds a photo of Dafle Abdullahi Ali  please send it my way so we can properly identify him.