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Ibrahim Aksakal, a Turkish national, was sentenced on Tuesday, March 8, to 27 months in prison for conspiring to commit health care and wire fraud, according to an announcement from Breon Peace, United States attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
Aksakal was also ordered to pay restitution of $1,039,723.63, and forfeiture in the amount of $397,500, according to the announcement.
Between 2017 and 2020, Aksakal operated a scheme in Suffolk County that facilitated pregnant Turkish women to come to the US using tourist and business visas to give birth so their children would have birthright citizenship and medical benefits, the US Attorney's Office reported.
The US Attorney's Office said Aksakal and co-conspirators would advertise the scheme on Turkish-language Facebook pages and charge about $7,500 for "transportation, 'insurance' to cover the costs of pre-natal, delivery, and post-natal medical care."
He and his co-conspirators would also tell the women to conceal their pregnancies, the report said.
According to the announcement, the women would stay in one of seven "birth houses" Aksakal had in the following locations:
- Center Moriches
- Dix Hills
- East Northport
- East Patchogue
- Smithtown
- West Babylon
Medicaid gave more than $1 million in fradulently-obtained benefits as a result of the scheme, the report said.
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