By Alicia Cruz
The Black Urban Times
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| Regine Willard |
Rockland County investigators have charged a 24-year-old woman with fraudulently obtaining Medicaid assistance from the Rockland County Department of Social Services between October 2010 and May 2011.
According to a press release, Regine Villard, of Fairview Avenue, in Spring Valley, New York obtained approximately $2,354.12 in Medicaid assistance by allegedly submitting false information when she filed a re-certification application for the medical benefits. Officials say Villard failed to disclose that she received health insurance from an employer.
The defendant was arrested following a joint probe by the Rockland County Special Investigations Unit and the
Investigation Unit of the Rockland County Department of Social Services, said Rockland County District Attorney Thomas P. Zugibe.
Villard was arraigned at the Village of Spring Valley Justice Court on one count of Welfare Fraud, a Fourth Degree class “E” Felony. Judge David Fried released the defendant on her own recognizance pending a June 20, 2012 court date.
Recipients who defraud the agency are given the opportunity to make restitution before agency officials file criminal charges. If full restitution is not made, the case is then turned over to the District Attorney for investigation.
Villard faces up to four years in state prison, if convicted.
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