Levittown Man Among Those Accused As Part Of NJ Fraud Investigation

The seal for the NJ Attorney General’s Office at a press conference. File photo.

A Levittown man is among several accused of taking part in a fraud scheme following an investigation by the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office.

The investigation led to Daniel E. Cassell, 56, of Perkasie, Kwenyan Professional Health Services LLC and Kwenyan and Associates, being charged with first-degree money laundering, second-degree theft by deception, and multiple counts of conspiracy, insurance fraud, and related offenses, authorities said.

Cassell, with assistance from his employees, took part in schemes to defraud Medicaid and to defraud Progressive from January 2015 through October 2021, when the Kwenyan entities ceased operations, the Garden State’s attorney general’s office said.

In a statement issued by the New Jersey Acting Attorney General Matthew Platkin, authorities said John Johnson, 31, of Levittown, conspired with his boss in a “scheme to illegally obtain lower premiums for insurance coverage on the over 20 vans.”

“According to the charges, in obtaining coverage from Progressive Insurance Company (Progressive), Cassell and Johnson falsely claimed that the vehicles, which were garaged and operated out of [his boss’ mental health] clinics located throughout New Jersey, would be garaged in Pennsylvania. As a result, the defendants were able to insure the vehicles in Pennsylvania, thereby obtaining an aggregate monetary benefit of more than $1,000,” authorities said.

The attorney general’s investigators worked with the New Jersey Department of the Treasury on the probe that also found Cassell’s wife, Bindu R. Cassell, 37, of Perkasie, used the Kwenyan organizations to conceal income and also failed to disclose additional earned income on their jointly filed 2016, 2017 and 2018 state tax returns, authorities said.

Cassell allegedly directed Kwenyan employees Carmen C. Ward, 63 of Flemington, New Jersey, and Knyckholle Hooke, 47, of Roselle, New Jersey, in the Medicaid fraud scheme in which thousands of false claims were submitted for reimbursement of mental health services that were fraudulent, authorities said.

They were charged with second-degree conspiracy to commit health care claims fraud, second-degree health care claims fraud, third-degree conspiracy to commit Medicaid fraud, and third-degree Medicaid fraud.

“Individuals who bend and skirt the law to defraud publicly-funded insurance programs and avoid paying their fair share in taxes undermine systems that are vital for the well-being of the public,” said Platkin. “We will not allow criminals to line their pockets.”

Editor’s Note: All individuals arrested or charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The story was compiled using information from police and public court documents.