Saudia Shuler is a Philadelphia restaurateur who became known for throwing over the top parties, including a lavish $25,000 Dubai-themed prom party, which included three tons of sand and camels, for her son. On Tuesday, she was indicted on social security fraud, reports ABC.
According to the U.S. attorney for Eastern Pennsylvania, Shuler is accused of collecting about $37,000 from the government after claiming to be unable to work due to a disability. She failed to report additional income and work to Social Security, which violates the terms of the program, and continued to manage her restaurant, Country Cookin’.
Shuler has allegedly been defrauding the government since 2014, according to Beth Leahy, the Deputy Chief of Health Care Fraud.
“When asked about the quality of life, she said that she couldn’t, rarely cook any meals and that her cousin cooked for her,” Leahy stated. “Ms. Shuler was running a food take-out business.”
Tariq El-Shabazz, Shuler’s attorney, asserted she had been faced with a few health issues. “Ms. Shuler suffered from a stroke, and as a result of that she was in rehab – she was unable to do anything for two-plus years around the same time she was allegedly perpetrating this particular fraud.”
She threw many events in her neighborhood including a Christmas party equipped with two reindeer and hundreds of gifts.
The 44-year-old is facing up to 140 years in prison on six counts of wire fraud, two counts of social security fraud and one count of theft of government funds.
