PARMA - Fouad Saeed Abdulkadir, 42, of Parma, Ohio, has been charged with devising and enacting a scheme to defraud the State of Ohio and steal public funds.
The acting U.S. Attorney Bridget M. Brennan announced the 52-count federal indictment on Tuesday. Among those 52 counts are wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and theft of public money.
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Northern District of Ohio, Fouad allegedly orchestrated a scheme to defraud the state of Ohio by submitting fake applications and receiving income assistance money while being gainfully employed from 2016 to 2018.
At the time, according to the indictment, Fouad was employed at a religious center in Parma, Ohio, with a full yearly salary and was provided health insurance while receiving performance and seniority-based bonuses and incentives.
In October 2016, the defendant submitted an application to the Ohio Works First (OWF) program, a federally funded initiative by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) and falsely listed his income as “0” to qualify for employment and income assistance, according to the indictment.
From his fraudulent applications, Fouad allegedly illicitly obtained more than $15,000 through the OWF program.
Furthermore, the indictment also states that Fouad may have also applied for and received approximately $41,599.24 in Medicaid benefits and approximately $23,599 from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.
An indictment is not evidence of guilt. All defendants are innocent until proven guilty and have the right to a fair trial in which the government has to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.