NEW YORK (PIX11) – What started as an investigation into ghost gun manufacturing turned into a larger case that the Manhattan district attorney described as street crime and white-collar crime intertwined.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said that two employees for the New York City Department of Homeless Services were allegedly manufacturing ghost guns, using parts they bought off eBay and Amazon. That led investigators to discover a massive web of financial fraud, involving five Department of Homeless Services employees, two U.S. postal workers, an NYPD school safety officer, an MTA employee and a NYCHA employee.
Prosecutors said Department of Homeless Services employees used their jobs to access the digital and paper files of shelter residents and then use their personal information to apply for pandemic assistance. They allegedly submitted 170 fraudulent applications that netted nearly $1.2 million but reportedly attempted to collect more than $5 million in benefits, authorities said.
Investigators said the defendants had many of the payouts sent to an address along the mail route of a letter carrier who was reportedly in on the scheme and could intercept the mail. The payouts reportedly helped to fund lavish lifestyles.
“Stealing the identity of New Yorkers - many of them homeless - and defrauding a critical social safety net program during one of the most challenging times in our city’s history is downright shameful and we allege criminal,” Bragg said.
Multiple defendants were also charged with burglary for allegedly breaking into the apartment of another defendant who they thought was taking more than their fair share of the stolen proceeds.
All of the suspects are due back in court on April 4.
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