A New York man has been charged with fraud after dressing up as his dead mother so he could collect more than $100 000 in welfare benefits, prosecutors said.
Thomas Parkin (49) and accomplice Mhilton Rimolo (47) face a 47-count indictment for collecting social security benefits amounting to $52 000 and $65 000 in rental assistance, according to Brooklyn District Attorney Charles J Hynes.
“These defendants ran a multi-year campaign of fraud that was unparalleled in its scope and brazenness,” Hynes said in a statement this week.
Prosecutors said the pair doctored Parkin’s deceased mother’s death certificate and provided a false social security number.
Parkin dressed in drag to impersonate 77-year-old Irene Prusik and visit the local Department of Motor Vehicles office to renew her driver’s licence.
As part of a separate probe into irregularities in the Brooklyn property in Prusik’s name, Parkin and Rimolo arranged a meeting between investigators and the older woman.
When prosecutors and detectives arrived, they found Parkin wearing a red cardigan, lipstick and manicured nails.
“I held my mother when she was dying and breathed in her last breath, so I am my mother,” Parkin reportedly told authorities during his arrest, CNN reported, citing a law enforcement source.
Bail for the pair was set at $1-million, CNN said. If convicted, they could face up to 25 years in prison. — AFP