A man who moved from Yemen to Arlington after being granted political asylum has been accused of stealing nearly $100,000 from federal programs for the poor.
Naser Al-Maqtari came to the United States in July 1999 with his wife and child, according to court documents filed in Alexandria’s federal court. It was two months before Yemen’s first presidential election as a newly unified country.
By 2001, documents said, Al-Maqtari added three children to his family. The federal programs he’s accused of ripping off by lying about his income also base the level of assistance they provide on how many children are in a family.
No lawyer was listed for Al-Maqtari in court records.
According to a sworn statement by an agent with the Department of Housing and Urban Development inspector general’s office, Al-Maqtari first applied for federal assistance in 2004. He claimed on applications to HUD, the food stamp program, Medicaid and a program designed for short-term emergency assistance for the poor, that he earned $6.50 an hour at Capital Fried Chicken in the District. He said he worked 120 hours a month. The salary and the size of his family put him within the range to receive federal cash.
According to a sworn statement by an agent with the Department of Housing and Urban Development inspector general’s office, Al-Maqtari first applied for federal assistance in 2004. He claimed on applications to HUD, the food stamp program, Medicaid and a program designed for short-term emergency assistance for the poor, that he earned $6.50 an hour at Capital Fried Chicken in the District. He said he worked 120 hours a month. The salary and the size of his family put him within the range to receive federal cash.
In November 2004, he landed a construction job that nearly doubled his income, the agent wrote.
But Al-Maqtari did not report the salary change to the federal programs until March 2008, when he claimed to be earning $400 a week, court documents said. With that update, Al-Maqtari provided what he claimed to be his first payroll check from the construction company.
The agent, however, reviewed Al-Maqtari’s employment and wage history with the construction company. The agent found that by 2007 Al-Maqtari was bringing home about $800 a week. Al-Maqtari finally reported his true income of $800 a week in April 2009. By then he had received about $96,900 from the government.
