2 Spring Lake Park residents accused of fraudulently obtaining over $800K in medical assistance payments

Two Spring Lake Park, Minnesota, residents are accused of making false claims to receive over $860,000 in medical assistance payments, according to court records filed Thursday.

Magda Mahmoud Elsagher and her husband, Mohamed Metwalli Elshazli, are each charged with one count of wrongfully obtaining assistance and perjury. The criminal complaint said they, along with their four adult children, received public benefits from Anoka County's Department of Human Services in the form of Medical Assistance and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program from March 23, 2020, through Feb. 28, 2021, and from Sept. 17, 2022, to Oct. 31, 2022.

The court document says their eligibility for public assistance programs was based on statements Elsagher and Elshazli provided to the county agency, which requires people applying to accurately report their household income and assets.

During numerous filings and interviews with the county agency, the two falsely claimed that no one in the household was self-employed and failed to report other income and assets, "Declaring under penalty of perjury" that everything they wrote in their forms was true, according to the court document.

The complaint said a medical assistance renewal form received in October 2020 showed no income for Elshazli, and a personal statement provided in 2020 — signed by the couple — said their only assets were a checking account with $200 and a single vehicle. According to the court document, it was reported during an interview with the county that no one in the Spring Lake Park household was self-employed.

Investigators learned Elshazli was self-employed and the sole owner of a business and obtained bank records that showed a checking account owned by the business had an average cash balance of just over $30,626 between June 2018 and May 2024, per the court document. Numerous deposits into and payments from the account were allegedly noted, including international wire transfers out of it that totaled $2,220,753.13 from September 2021 through July 2025. 

"Due to the false reporting and fraudulent filings, an estimated $861,304.03 of Medical Assistance overpayments were made between August 1, 2018, and November 30, 2025," the complaint said.   

According to the court document, investigators determined Elsagher is the sole owner of the Spring Lake Park home, which was purchased in 2011 for $125,000. They also learned that 17 vehicles were registered in her name and Elshazli's, and most were never disclosed.

Credit card statements obtained by law enforcement showed significant spending activity, including over $54,000 spent at a jewelry store between 2020 and 2024 and over $7,000 on travel to Egypt in 2019, the complaint said.

If convicted, Elsagher and Elshazli each face up to 25 years in prison and a maximum fine of $200,000.