The Original NY Racing Community
SARATOGA - Racing Since 1863
It is currently Fri Mar 29, 2024 9:41 am

All times are UTC - 4 hours [ DST ]




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 3 posts ] 
Links: Handicapping | General Racing Discussion | Off Topic | Photo Forum
Author Message
 Post subject: Just when you think you've seen it all
PostPosted: Wed Jun 17, 2009 9:40 am 
Offline

Joined: Tue May 19, 2009 1:22 pm
Posts: 1031
WTF????





Cops: Brooklyn man impersonates dead mother to collect $115,000 in Social Security, rent subsidies
BY William Sherman
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Wednesday, June 17th 2009, 4:00 AM



He may be the ultimate mama's boy.

A Brooklyn man is accused of donning a wig, nail polish and dresses to impersonate his dead mom and collect $115,000 in Social Security and rent subsidies.

For six years, Thomas Prusik-Parkin hoodwinked a stunning array of government agencies with his elaborate charade - using a cane, heavy makeup, fake ID and a phony "nephew," law enforcement sources said.

The 49-year-old was busted late Monday and will be arraigned today on grand larceny, forgery and conspiracy charges linked to a deed and mortgage fraud scheme.

"I held my mother when she was dying and breathed in her last breath, so I am my mother," Prusik-Parkin said when he was arrested, according to detectives.

The mother, Irene Prusik, died in 2003 at age 73. The flimflam, which the Daily News learned of during a mortgage fraud probe, began immediately.

Her son allegedly gave the funeral director the wrong Social Security number and date of birth for his mother so that her death would not be registered in government databases.

He began collecting $700 a month in Social Security in her name, in addition to his own disability checks, sources said.

He's accused of posing as Irene to file for bankruptcy so "she" would be eligible for $39,000 in city subsidies to help pay rent on a Park Slope apartment.

To help in the ruse, Prusik-Parkin allegedly enlisted a close friend, Mhilton Rimolo, 47, to pose as Irene's nephew, help the "ailing aunt" get around town, cash government checks and assist in property transactions.

On April 29, for example, Rimolo was with "Irene" when she renewed a driver's license in Coney Island.

Banks, courts and federal and city agencies were taken in again and again - but the Brooklyn district attorney's rackets squad wasn't fooled.

When DA investigators showed up to interview Irene Prusik in May, they encountered an elderly "woman" in a red dress and dark sunglasses who answered all their questions, sources said.

Rimolo, who is also being charged, was at "her" side and told investigators Irene's son couldn't speak to them because he wasn't home.

The DA was tipped by the man who actually owns the home where Prusik-Parkin lives, a $2.2million brownstone building that appears to be at the center of a massive fraud.

In 1996, Irene Prusik deeded the home at 492 Sixth Ave. to her son, according to city records.

He took out a $200,000 mortgage to bankroll a real estate investment business that failed. He stopped making mortgage payments, the house went into foreclosure and it was bought by Samir Chopra in 2003.

To hold onto the brownstone and avoid eviction, Prusik-Parkin posed as his mother to file a suit alleging that he had forged the 1996 deed transfer, investigators allege. He even filed an affidavit from a nonexistent son.

In essence, investigators say, he sued himself to prove that he didn't have the title to the home and that Chopra - who also thought Irene Prusik was still alive - couldn't have legally bought it.

Prusik-Parkin deeded the house back to his mother last year. Then he took out a mortgage for almost a million dollars in her name in April, collecting some $300,000 of the loan.

That same month, Chopra convinced a Brooklyn judge the home really did belong to him, and the Prusik "family" was evicted in May.

wsherman@nydailynews.com



http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crim ... IgsfBlKj&D

_________________
Four things you can't recover: The stone..... after the throw, The word...... after it's said, The occasion..... after it's missed, The time..... after it's gone.


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Just when you think you've seen it all
PostPosted: Wed Jun 17, 2009 11:08 am 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Tue May 19, 2009 1:21 pm
Posts: 71536
There are less risky ways to make money while in drag.

_________________
Image The race doesn't always go to the swift and the strong but that's the way to bet.


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Just when you think you've seen it all
PostPosted: Wed Jun 17, 2009 12:33 pm 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Tue May 19, 2009 12:42 pm
Posts: 1928
Location: Mechanicville, NY
There was a guy who put his father in the freezer for 20 years, got his retirement check until he died.


Top
 Profile  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 3 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 4 hours [ DST ]


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 5 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
cron
Powered by phpBB © 2010 phpBB Group