More than 100 retirees who worked for the NYPD and NYFD have been charged with fraud. The accused have lived about having psychiatric conditions and stealing SSI benefits. 106 people have been indicted and 80 of those are police and fire department retirees. Four people are accused of going so far as to actively direct retirees to seek disability fraudulently. At least $21.5 million dollars had been payed out into the group of benefit-stealing city employees.
Some of the conditions lied about were post traumatic stress disorder, and depression, regarding 9-11 and terrorism. The fireman and policemen claimed to be psychologically affected so that they could get Social security disability insurance benefits. Some are charged with grand and petty larceny, in the first and second degree.
For more than two decades, ringleaders in this scheme helped hundreds of people falsely apply to juice the system and to claim injuries and illnesses that didn’t exist to get a bit more money out of the public purse. Experts consider that after 1000 or more such applicants cashed into this terrible scheme, perhaps $400 million has gone by, at the expense of uncle same and funded by taxpayers. The police Commissioner and other officials from the Social Security Administration consider this fraud to be especially heinous as it involves the public trust and public servants who are supposed to consider the greatest public benefit. It is a shame that those public servants went forward to betray the people they served and were charged to protect.
“This exploitation, combined with the fact that many of those indicted formerly held positions of public trust, make these crimes all the more egregious,” Edward J. Ryan, special agent-in-charge with the U.S. Social Security Administration, said in a statement. New York City Police Commissioner William J. Bratton said the indicted department retirees “disgraced all first responders who perished during the search and rescue efforts on Sept. 11, 2001.”
Summary:
More than 100 retirees who worked for the NYPD and NYFD have been charged with fraud. The accused have lived about having psychiatric conditions and stealing SSI benefits. 106 people have been indicted and 80 of those are police and fire department retirees. Four people are accused of going so far as to actively direct retirees to seek disability fraudulently. At least $21.5 million dollars had been payed out into the group of benefit-stealing city employees.
Image Credit: The New York Times