If only Old Greenwich's Pat White had been born Somalian
/“Who? Patricia White? Never heard of her, and she’s not on our donor rolls, so ….”
Connecticut siblings convicted of fraud in Pennsylvania must return $1.2 million to state treasuries
Patricia White, 70, of Old Greenwich, received a nine-month prison sentence for submitting false claims for unclaimed properties to around 30 state treasuries.
Brother Henry, 75, sentenced to three years, one month.
HARRISBURG - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Patricia A. White, age 70, resident of Old Greenwich, Connecticut, was sentenced on April 27, 2026, to nine months’ imprisonment by United States District Judge Karoline Mehalchick for submitting false and fraudulent claims for unclaimed property to state treasuries. White was also ordered to pay $1,208,271.40 in restitution to approximately 30 state treasuries.
According to United States Attorney Brian D. Miller, White, along with her brother and codefendant, Henry A. White, Jr., together received over $1.2 million in false and fraudulent claims for unclaimed property from state treasuries around the United States. Henry White using the names of corporate entities with which he was not affiliated and which he had no lawful authority to use, applied for and received unclaimed property from state treasuries throughout the United States. The scheme took place over the course of approximately ten years, from 2013 until around 2022. State treasuries, relying on the certifications provided by Henry White under penalty of perjury, issued payment checks, which were generally sent by U.S. mail to the shared home address of both defendants.
From there, the Whites deposited and cashed these fraudulently obtained payment checks into a joint bank account, and they used these funds for personal expenses, including for mortgage payments for their shared home in Connecticut. At the time of her guilty plea, Patricia White admitted to personally depositing some of these fraudulently obtained checks.
Henry White was sentenced on December 17, 2025 to 37 months in prison and was ordered to pay the same restitution amount as Patricia White.
Patricia White will surrender herself to the Bureau of Prisons on May 8, 2026.
So, okay, the Whites did wrong, and now they must pay; fair enough, but their crime involved stealing $1.2 million of dormant funds resting in unclaimed property accounts; Suppose they had stolen $2.2 million as part of an $18BN theft? Wow! They’d have really had the book thrown at them, eh?
Well, that would depend on where they were born, and what politicians they had in their pocket. Sadly for the White siblings, they picked the wrong nationality, and had no friends in the state government.
This guy, however, had both:
Minnesota fraudster cuts no-jail plea deal with key condition tied to alleged mastermind
Said Awil Ibrahim gets five years probation after pleading guilty in Minnesota's largest Medicaid fraud case ever
A Minnesota Medicaid fraud defendant is expected to avoid serving jail time under a plea deal that requires him to cooperate with authorities pursuing his fugitive co-defendant, whom a judge granted bond despite warnings from law enforcement that he may flee the country.
Said Awil Ibrahim pleaded guilty May 1 under a deal with Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office that calls for five years of supervised probation and a stayed 150-day jail sentence in a nearly $11 million case Ellison’s office has called the state's largest Medicaid fraud prosecution. Per the terms of his plea agreement, he will also be required to help authorities track down his missing fugitive co-defendant, alleged mastermind Abdirashid Ismail Said.
So where is this alleged mastermind? He was given a ticket to ride, far from U.S. jurisdiction and safely removed from the inquisitive eyes of federal authorites who might have wanted to probe his ties with Minnesota politicians.
MINNESOTA FRAUD SUSPECT SKIPS COURT, FORFEITS BOND, THROWING $11M MEDICAID CASE INTO DOUBT
Said failed to show up for a mandated court appearance in early April after Hennepin County District Court Judge Juan Hoyos granted him a bond set at $150,000. The terms of the bond allowed Said to retain possession of his passport, even as the Medicare Fraud Control Unit, which is within the attorney general's office, warned the judge that he may be a flight risk.
"Given the nature and severity of the charges, and SAID’s familial ties outside the jurisdiction of Minnesota, I believe there is a potential SAID may flee, hide, or otherwise prevent the execution of the warrant," a police detective wrote in the criminal complaint against Said. The complaint noted that Said has a wife and child in Kenya, where he is believed to have fled.
Ibrahim’s role in Said’s operation included defrauding Minnesota taxpayers of $2.2 million using false claims and paying himself over half a million dollars through the scheme. As part of his plea deal, Ibrahim has acknowledged that he stole from the state and agreed to return the $2.2 million through a payment plan that will be determined at his sentencing hearing.
His jail sentence will be stayed if he complies with probation and a payment plan.
And there’s this lagniappe:
Said had previously been convicted of fraud in Minnesota in 2021, receiving probation and community service instead of a jail sentence.