Menachem Lieberman Sentenced To 52 Months For Fraud On Federal Childcare Programs

Press Release Menachem Lieberman Sentenced To 52 Months For Fraud On Federal Childcare Programs Monday, June 23, 2025 Share FacebookLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the “external link” icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. XLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the “external link” icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. LinkedInLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the “external link” icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. Email For Immediate Release U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, announced that MENACHEM “MAX” LIEBERMAN was sentenced today to 52 months in prison for two fraudulent schemes involving federally funded childcare companies. LIEBERMAN previously pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Jennifer H. Rearden, who imposed today’s sentence. “Max Lieberman defrauded federal childcare programs that provide vital services to our most innocent and vulnerable,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “New Yorkers believe in opportunity, particularly for our children, and by defrauding our Head Start and childcare voucher programs, Max Lieberman exploited our collective belief in opportunity for his own financial gain. The women and men of the Southern District of New York are committed to pursuing those who breach the public trust for illicit, personal financial gain.”According to the Indictment, public court filings, and statements made in court proceedings:LIEBERMAN participated in two schemes involving federal grant programs meant to provide assistance for childcare to low-income families. First, between 2019 and January 2023, LIEBERMAN secretly “owned” and exercised control over a non-profit entity, Project Social Care Head Start Inc. (“PSCHS”), that operated in the New York City area (and which, as a non-profit entity, could not legally be privately owned). The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), which administers the Head Start program, annually granted to PSCHS millions of dollars that were to be used exclusively on the Head Start program and from which earning a profit is prohibited by law. Between 2019 and 2021, LIEBERMAN paid co-defendant Martin Handler $4.7 million to obtain “ownership” over PSCHS, and used his control over PSCHS to impermissibly direct PSCHS’s Head Start funding to his own for-profit companies. In order to protect his control over PSCHS’s funding, LIEBERMAN conspired with others to impair HHS’s ability to provide effective oversight of PSCHS by, among other things:Misrepresenting to HHS that PSCHS had an independent board of directors that was monitoring PSCHS,Submitting a letter to HHS when it began investigating LIEBERMAN’s involvement that falsely stated there were no conflicts of interest or less-than-arms’-length dealings with LIEBERMAN,And coordinating false testimony to HHS investigators.Second, between July 2020 and January 2023, LIEBERMAN perpetrated a separate fraud that caused harm of nearly $2 million to the New York City Administration for Children’s Services (“ACS”), which administers a federally funded childcare voucher program for low-income families. In July 2020, LIEBERMAN submitted an application to ACS on behalf of PSCHS that contained a false signature of the nominal executive director and included fake receipts for six children that purported to show those children were already attending the program, when in fact the program did not exist and no children attended. When questioned by ACS whether the executive director’s signature was legitimate, LIEBERMAN created and submitted a fraudulently notarized document supposedly from the executive director that falsely affirmed that the signature was accurate. From July 2020 through his arrest in January 2023, LIEBERMAN applied for and received over $1.8 million in ACS reimbursements, even though the program did not actually exist and no children attended the program except for a brief period from September 2022 to October 2022.* * *In addition to today’s prison sentence, LIEBERMAN, 48, of Brooklyn, New York, was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay a fine of $200,000, restitution of $1,854,543.35 to ACS, and forfeit $1,774,543.35. Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, and HHS, Office of the Inspector General. Mr. Clayton also thanked U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Inspector General, and the New York City Department of Investigation for their assistance with this investigation.This case is being handled by the Office’s Public Corruption Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel H. Wolf, Catherine Ghosh, Jacob R. Fiddelman, and Stephanie Simon are in charge of the prosecution, with the assistance of Paralegal Specialist Nandita Vasantha. Contact Nicholas Biase, Shelby Wratchford(212) 637-2600 Updated June 23, 2025 Topic Public Corruption Component USAO - New York, Southern Press Release Number: 25-145

Press Release Menachem Lieberman Sentenced To 52 Months For Fraud On Federal Childcare Programs Monday, June 23, 2025 Share FacebookLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the “external link” icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. XLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the “external link” icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. LinkedInLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the “external link” icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. Email For Immediate Release U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, announced that MENACHEM “MAX” LIEBERMAN was sentenced today to 52 months in prison for two fraudulent schemes involving federally funded childcare companies. LIEBERMAN previously pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Jennifer H. Rearden, who imposed today’s sentence. “Max Lieberman defrauded federal childcare programs that provide vital services to our most innocent and vulnerable,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “New Yorkers believe in opportunity, particularly for our children, and by defrauding our Head Start and childcare voucher programs, Max Lieberman exploited our collective belief in opportunity for his own financial gain. The women and men of the Southern District of New York are committed to pursuing those who breach the public trust for illicit, personal financial gain.”According to the Indictment, public court filings, and statements made in court proceedings:LIEBERMAN participated in two schemes involving federal grant programs meant to provide assistance for childcare to low-income families. First, between 2019 and January 2023, LIEBERMAN secretly “owned” and exercised control over a non-profit entity, Project Social Care Head Start Inc. (“PSCHS”), that operated in the New York City area (and which, as a non-profit entity, could not legally be privately owned). The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), which administers the Head Start program, annually granted to PSCHS millions of dollars that were to be used exclusively on the Head Start program and from which earning a profit is prohibited by law. Between 2019 and 2021, LIEBERMAN paid co-defendant Martin Handler $4.7 million to obtain “ownership” over PSCHS, and used his control over PSCHS to impermissibly direct PSCHS’s Head Start funding to his own for-profit companies. In order to protect his control over PSCHS’s funding, LIEBERMAN conspired with others to impair HHS’s ability to provide effective oversight of PSCHS by, among other things:Misrepresenting to HHS that PSCHS had an independent board of directors that was monitoring PSCHS,Submitting a letter to HHS when it began investigating LIEBERMAN’s involvement that falsely stated there were no conflicts of interest or less-than-arms’-length dealings with LIEBERMAN,And coordinating false testimony to HHS investigators.Second, between July 2020 and January 2023, LIEBERMAN perpetrated a separate fraud that caused harm of nearly $2 million to the New York City Administration for Children’s Services (“ACS”), which administers a federally funded childcare voucher program for low-income families. In July 2020, LIEBERMAN submitted an application to ACS on behalf of PSCHS that contained a false signature of the nominal executive director and included fake receipts for six children that purported to show those children were already attending the program, when in fact the program did not exist and no children attended. When questioned by ACS whether the executive director’s signature was legitimate, LIEBERMAN created and submitted a fraudulently notarized document supposedly from the executive director that falsely affirmed that the signature was accurate. From July 2020 through his arrest in January 2023, LIEBERMAN applied for and received over $1.8 million in ACS reimbursements, even though the program did not actually exist and no children attended the program except for a brief period from September 2022 to October 2022.* * *In addition to today’s prison sentence, LIEBERMAN, 48, of Brooklyn, New York, was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay a fine of $200,000, restitution of $1,854,543.35 to ACS, and forfeit $1,774,543.35. Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, and HHS, Office of the Inspector General. Mr. Clayton also thanked U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Inspector General, and the New York City Department of Investigation for their assistance with this investigation.This case is being handled by the Office’s Public Corruption Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel H. Wolf, Catherine Ghosh, Jacob R. Fiddelman, and Stephanie Simon are in charge of the prosecution, with the assistance of Paralegal Specialist Nandita Vasantha. Contact Nicholas Biase, Shelby Wratchford(212) 637-2600 Updated June 23, 2025 Topic Public Corruption Component USAO - New York, Southern Press Release Number: 25-145