Levittown executive charged with submitting fraudulent paperwork to get public assistance benefits, DA says

A Levittown executive pleaded not guilty Thursday to defrauding a Nassau County agency and a state agency out of $112,000 by filing fraudulent paperwork to get benefits she was not entitled to, Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly said in a news release.

Terry Ann Powell-Bajwa, 45, president and chief executive officer of Tera Consulting, Inc. a consulting, IT service solutions, and commodity distribution company, allegedly submitted false information on applications and recertifications that she filed with the Nassau County Department of Social Services and the New York State Health Benefits Exchange between 2017 and 2021, the release said.

Powell-Bajwa received Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, day care services, and Medicaid benefits.

Her husband, Khurram Bajwa, 40, also pleaded not guilty to charges he submitted fraudulent paperwork to enroll the couple’s child in kindergarten in the North Shore School District, despite living in Levittown.

“The defendant and her husband already benefitted greatly from several lucrative government contracts awarded to their company, Tera Consulting, Inc., including a $2 million contract with Lockheed Martin, and yet, audaciously filed allegedly fraudulent paperwork, misrepresenting their wealth and family dynamics to receive public assistance benefits earmarked for vulnerable residents,” said Donnelly.

Woodbury-based attorney Doug Reda, who represents the couple declined to comment when reached by phone Thursday.

Beginning in 2016 on applications submitted to the two agencies, Powell-Bajwa allegedly listed herself as single with two dependent children with an annual income of $23,600. She also allegedly listed the father of her children as being absent from the home She said her monthly mortgage payment was $2,650 and it was in arrears.

An investigation revealed the couple lived in Levittown and that the husband worked at a business management consulting firm in New York City earning approximately $266,000 between October 2016 and February 2020. The release said the entire mortgage debt was paid off in 2022.

Powell-Bajwa also allegedly failed to report rental income from a two-family home that Bajwa owned and rented in Howard Beach, Queens, the release said.

Powell-Bajwa was arraigned Thursday on charges including second degree grand larceny, second degree welfare fraud, and five counts of first degree offering a false instrument for filing.

She faces up to15 years in prison if convicted of the top charge.

Bajwa was arraigned on two counts of first degree offering a false instrument for filing. If convicted, he faces up to 4 years in prison.

Both were released on their own recognizance. They are both due back in court on April 13.