HCBS services Brooklyn

amother

Dill

Sun, Feb 05 2023, 1:06 pm

As alleged in the Indictment unsealed today in Manhattan federal court and statements made in court filings:[1]

MARTIN HANDLER, MENACHEM LIEBERMAN, HAROLD SCHWARTZ, ISIDORE HANDLER, and BEN WERCZBERGER participated in multiple related schemes to steal from and defraud daycares receiving funding from the City of New York’s Administration for Children’s Services (“ACS”) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”).

Among their schemes, MARTIN HANDLER, LIEBERMAN, SCHWARTZ, and ISIDORE HANDLER participated in a scheme to fraudulently claim reimbursement from ACS for the enrollment of children in a fake after-school program purportedly operated by a non-profit daycare provider (“Daycare Provider-1”), resulting in the theft of more than $1,000,000.

MARTIN HANDLER and LIEBERMAN perpetrated another fraudulent scheme against HHS by concealing their secret ownership of Daycare Provider-1, an ostensible “non-profit” entity without any legal owners that has received in excess of $90 million in federal funding since 2009. MARTIN HANDLER’s and LIEBERMAN’s secret ownership of Daycare Provider-1 allowed them to circumvent statutory and regulatory restrictions against less-than-arm’s length partnerships. MARTIN HANDLER and LIEBERMAN steered Daycare Provider-1 into partnerships with their respective for-profit daycares (“Daycare Provider-2 and Daycare Provider-3”), that resulted in millions of dollars of federal funding for Daycare Provider-2 and Daycare Provider-3.

MARTIN HANDLER, LIEBERMAN, SCHWARTZ, and ISIDORE HANDLER also submitted false information to HHS to hide their fraudulent schemes. In about December 2021, HHS initiated an investigation into Daycare Provider-1 and conveyed allegations that had arisen about LIEBERMAN’s relationship with Daycare Provider-1. MARTIN HANDLER, LIEBERMAN, SCHWARTZ, and ISIDORE HANDLER then conspired to submit a letter to the regional HHS office responding to these allegations that, among other things, falsely denied LIEBERMAN had a less-than-arm’s length relationship with Daycare Provider-1, even though, in fact, LIEBERMAN secretly owned it.

MARTIN HANDLER and BEN WERCZBERGER participated in a scheme to steal, and to launder the proceeds of their theft, from HANDLER’s for-profit daycare, Daycare Provider-2. MARTIN HANDLER and WERCZBERGER stole at least $2.8 million in federal funding intended for childcare services for low-income children in the Bronx. They carried out this theft by funneling a portion of HHS’s monthly funding to WERCZBERGER, by providing no-show jobs to WERCZBERGER’s wife and grandson, and by having Daycare Provider-2 cover the cost of a luxury SUV for WERCZBERGER’s wife.

Finally, MARTIN HANDLER himself stole funds from Daycare Provider-2’s operating expenses, including to purchase real estate, to repay a $500,000 loan to a business associate, to purchase historical items at auction, and to purchase a luxury vehicle.

amother

Electricblue

Tue, Dec 05 2023, 11:12 pm

amother Dill wrote:

Anybody have any update on this case?