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The six were indicted on Wednesday, Dec. 2, at the federal courthouse in Central Islip, said the office of Seth D. DuCharme, Acting U.S. Attorney Eastern District of New York.
The scheme, which took place in Suffolk County between approximately 2017 and 2020, involved pregnant Turkish women fraudulently entering the United States using tourist and business visas to give birth so that their children would obtain birthright citizenship and medical benefits, the indictment said.
According to the indictment, the defendants advertised a birth tourism scheme on two Turkish-language Facebook pages, and other websites saying “If you believe your baby should be born in the USA and become a U.S. citizen then you are at the right place. . . . [W]e at ‘Bebegim Amerika Dogsun’ . . . will provide future mothers and fathers this opportunity, with minimal costs . . . .
The defendants, who said the women would be housed in Suffolk County, also allegedly instructed the women to conceal their pregnancies.
As alleged in the indictment and court filings, the pregnant women were housed in one of seven “birth houses” that the defendants maintained in Center Moriches, Dix Hills, East Northport, East Patchogue, Smithtown, and West Babylon.
Instead of obtaining insurance for the women, the group applied for Medicaid benefits, by submitting fraudulent Medicaid applications on behalf of the pregnant women.
Officials said 117 Turkish mothers gave birth to 119 children on Long Island during the time period of the scheme.
As a result of the defendants’ scheme, the indictment alleges that Medicaid disbursed more than $2.1 million in fraudulently-obtained benefits, and estimates that the defendants’ received approximately $750,000.
Those arrested were charged with fraud and money laundering.
The defendants included:
- Ibrahim (Dennis) Aksakal, 48, of East Patchogue
- Enes Burak Cakiroglu, 24, of East Patchogue
- Sarah Kaplan, 46, of Center Moriches
- Fiordalisa (Lisa) Marte, 41, of Lindenhurst
- Edgar Rodriguez, 48, of Farmingville
- One unknown
Officials said the children will likely keep their citizenship for life.
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