By: Najla Alexander
Authorities in Monmouth County announced that a local couple has been criminally charged with conspiring to steal more than $750,000 by failing to report taxable income that amounted to nearly $4.5 million over the course of about five years.
Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago stated Eli Levy and Lauren Levy, both 43-year-old residents of Manalapan, are each charged with single counts of second-degree Conspiracy, second-degree Medicaid Fraud, second-degree Tax Fraud, and third-degree False Statements Related to an Application for Medicaid Benefits.
County officials said the charges included five counts each of third-degree Failure to Pay Taxes and third-degree Filing of a Fraudulent Return.
The case originated from a referral to the MCPO Financial Crimes and Special Prosecutions Unit by the Medicaid Fraud Division (MFD) of the New Jersey Office of the State Comptroller, which had received information that the Levy household had fraudulently received medical services and benefits through the State’s Family Care (NJFC) Medicaid Program, officials say.
According to Monmouth County officials, shortly thereafter, the investigation grew to also involve the Office of Criminal Investigation of the New Jersey Department of the Treasury.
An analysis of the couple’s personal and business banking records revealed that the defendants intentionally omitted taxable income from their jointly filed tax returns from 2018 through 2022, despite their companies, Supreme Cleaning Services, LLC and Nation Wide Shippers, LLC, collecting a total of approximately $4.48 million in revenue over that period, Monmouth County authorities say.
The amount of taxes evaded, not including penalties and interest, topped $768,000, County officials stated.
The investigation also revealed that the couple had fraudulently collected more than $83,000 in medical services through NJFC from 2015 into 2019, stated Monmouth County authorities.
Officials said the pair turned themselves in to authorities without incident on Tuesday, October 15, and were released on summonses pending future proceedings in Monmouth County Superior Court.