Authorities say three more Lakewood, New Jersey, couples have been arrested and face charges of defrauding the government out of public welfare benefits they weren't entitled to receive.

That brings the total arrests in the growing scandal to 14 people this week, representing about $2 million in alleged fraud, and prosecutors warned "additional arrests are forthcoming." 

At the heart of the charges is the allegation that they all, in one way or another, failed to report or otherwise concealed significant income that would have made them ineligible for the wide variety of assistance programs in which they had enrolled. 

The arrests have shaken Lakewood, whose population has nearly tripled since 1980 as the Orthodox Jewish population there surged. The town is now one of New Jersey's largest as a result. Among those arrested this week are a rabbi and the former director of a religious special-needs school. 

Yitzchock and Sora Kanarek, Chaim and Liatt Ehrman, and William and Faigy Friedman were arrested late Tuesday and are set to appear in state court Wednesday afternoon. 

Prosecutors say the three couples misrepresented their income and then collected more than $674,000 in benefits. It wasn't immediately clear if they had attorneys to comment on their behalf. Yitzchock Kanarek formerly ran Yeshiva Oros Yisroel, which catered to kids with special needs who could not be accommodated at other religious schools. 

Four other couples from Lakewood -- including a well-known local rabbi -- were arrested Monday for allegedly defrauding public assistance programs of more than $1.3 million in benefits.

Rachel and Mordechai Sorotzkin face federal charges, as do Yocheved and Shimon Nussbaum. The Sorotzkins allegedly obtained state Medicaid benefits that they did not qualify for, while the Nussbaums allegedly did the same with Medicaid, housing and food assistance benefits. 

Seperately, Ocean County prosecutors filed state charges against Mordechai and Jocheved Breskin and Zalmen and Tzipporah Sorotzkin. (The relationship between the two Sorotzkin families was not immediately clear). Both couples allegedly underreported income to collect Medicaid, food, housing and Social Security benefits. 

Zalmen Sorotzkin is the Rabbi of Congregation Lutzk in Lakewood.

"Financial assistance programs are designed to alleviate family hardships for those truly in need. My office gave clear guidance and notice to the Lakewood community in 2015 of what is considered financial abuse of these programs. Those who choose to ignore those warnings by seeking to illegally profit on the backs of taxpayers will pay the punitive price of their actions," Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph Coronato said in a statement Monday.

Rabbi Moshe Zev Weisberg released a statement Wednesday evening on behalf of The Lakewood Vaad, saying the council was "saddened beyond words by the arrests of seven couples in our town." 

"There is no such a thing as 'justified' theft," Weisberg said in the statement. "To deliberately bend a safety-net eligibility rule is stealing, no different than stealing from your friend or neighbor."

Weisber said the council will launch a set of intensive educational programs in the days ahead, and that the public will be invited to participate in the programs.