A Queens man impersonated his twin brother — who died in 1962 just after birth — to net more than a half-million dollars in welfare benefits, authorities said Tuesday.
Thomas Murphy, 52, allegedly pulled off the scam for nearly 20 years, using his tragic dead sibling Robert’s Social Security number starting in 1994, officials said.
Murphy got a driver’s license and bank account in Robert’s name and then started raking in food stamps, Medicaid and rent subsidies — even though he was far from poor, authorities said.
Murphy worked for the city Sanitation Department since 2006, earning $ 80,000 annually.
“With so many needy New Yorkers requiring affordable housing and assistance to put food on the table and pay for medical expenses, the city, state and federal governments will not be tricked into providing support to persons who can well afford to pay their own way,’’ Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said in a statement.
The suspect defrauded taxpayers out of $ 581,805.80 between 1994 and 2013, authorities said.
State Welfare Inspector General Catherine Leahy Scott, whose office helped conduct the probe, said Murphy was particularly crafty.
He devised “an intricate plot to ensure a constant cash flow of government benefits,’’ she added in the statement.
Murphy’s ill gains included $ 216,481.80 from Medicaid, $ 15,024 from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), $ 209,902 in state rental subsidies, and $ 140,398 from the Social Security Administration, officials said.
Yahoo Local News – New York Post
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