Public Servants in NYC Accused of Identity Theft in Pandemic Fraud Involving Homeless individuals

Several New York City employees, including five from the city’s homeless services agency, were arrested for their involvement in a scheme to steal identities of homeless shelter residents and defraud a pandemic relief program. Manhattan prosecutors charged 18 individuals, alleging they obtained $1.2 million in fraudulent unemployment benefits. The scheme involved filing bogus claims on behalf of 170 people, most of whom resided in city-run homeless shelters. The defendants pleaded not guilty to charges including grand larceny and conspiracy. The investigation into benefits fraud stemmed from another case involving Department of Homeless Services employees manufacturing ghost guns. Prosecutors uncovered that DHS employees were stealing personal information from homeless residents and manipulating a U.S. postal worker to intercept bank cards.
As the scheme unfolded, some participants turned on each other, with at least two accused of burglarizing a co-conspirator’s home to steal $30,000 they believed was being withheld. One individual involved in the burglary transitioned from a DHS job to the NYPD before returning to the homeless services agency after being fired by the police department. A second individual, a school safety agent at the NYPD, was terminated on Thursday. The DHS did not provide comment on the situation. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg condemned the conduct, stating it was unacceptable for public servants to engage in such criminal activity during challenging times.

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