SAN DIEGO — A Southern California man was sentenced Aug. 21 to 27 months in prison for participating in a childcare benefit fraud scheme that bilked a California welfare and benefits program of millions of dollars. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Inspector General investigated this case.
“These thieves organized a financial scheme with the sole purpose of lining their pockets with ill-gotten money,” said HSI San Diego acting Special Agent in Charge Christopher A. Davis. “The defendants in this case stole from the government and American taxpayers. We are committed to identifying fraudsters and bringing them to justice.”
Those involved in this scheme include Mohamed Muriidi Mohamed, 47, of Spring Valley; Amina Abdirazak Omar, 41, of Spring Valley; Osob Abdirazak Omar, 33, of San Diego; and Omar Omar, 26, of San Diego.
At the hearing, U.S. District Judge Ruth Bermudez Montenegro also ordered Muriidi to pay $3.7 million in restitution to Child Development Associates.
The Department of Health and Human Services funds a program known as the Alternative Payment Program/Stage 2 Childcare. This childcare benefit program allows eligible parents to select a licensed childcare provider that best fit their needs. In San Diego, this program is administered by two contractors: Child Development Associates and the YMCA. Child Development Associates and the YMCA disburse the funding from Health and Human Services and the state of California directly to designated childcare providers. In administering the program, Child Development Associates and the YMCA require verification forms to be completed by the parent, the parent’s employer and the child’s school.
Muriidi and his three co-defendants fraudulently caused Child Development Associates and the YMCA to pay out millions in childcare benefit program funds by falsely verifying that parents were working or attending school at the UMI Learning Center, a vocational and language school located on University Avenue, although the parents were not actually participating in classes or employment as claimed. As part of the scheme, Muriidi also issued paychecks to make it appear that the parents were working at UMI but told the parents not to cash them. Meanwhile, childcare providers submitted daily childcare attendance forms falsely claiming that childcare was provided for days and hours when the parents were supposedly at UMI Learning Center for work or school. In exchange for these false verification forms, parents were expected to pay $200 to UMI Learning Center each month, and the childcare providers were expected to split the childcare benefit program funds they received with the parents. The defendants’ scheme caused Child Development Associates and the YMCA to pay out $3.7 million dollars in childcare benefit program funds to approximately 150 households.
Muriidi and his wife, co-defendant Amina Abdirazak Omar, received childcare benefits for their own children. Muriidi signed his own and his wife’s verification forms for their own benefits under his alias to hide the fact that he was the one falsely verifying their presence at UMI. Amina Omar and her sister, co-defendant Osob Abdirazak Omar, and their brother, co-defendant Omar Omar, submitted false timesheets claiming Osob Omar and Omar Omar were providing childcare for Muriidi and Amina Omar’s children for days and hours they were not.
Co-defendants Amina Abdirazak Omar, Osob Abdirazak Omar and Omar Omar have also pleaded guilty to the same charge. Osob Omar was sentenced July 26 to 12 months and one day in custody and ordered to pay $298,910 in restitution. Omar Omar was sentenced Aug. 2 to 90 days in custody and ordered to pay $101,153 in restitution. Amina Omar is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 4.
“These defendants stole money intended to provide safe care for children of working parents,” said U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California Tara McGrath. “The U.S. attorney’s office is committed to safeguarding government funded programs like this one so families can better manage the heavy burden of childcare expenses.”
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Valerie H. Chu and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa J. Sanniti.