Thursday, June 18, 2009

Brooklyn Man Accused Of Dressing In Drag To Impersonate Dead Mom To Collect Her Benefits Checks & Steal Back Brownstone Previously Lost To Foreclosure

In Brooklyn, New York, the New York Daily News reports:
  • 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 [Wednesday] on grand larceny, forgery and conspiracy charges linked to a deed and mortgage fraud scheme.

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  • In 1996, Irene Prusik deeded the [family] 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.

For the story, see Cops: Brooklyn man impersonates dead mother to collect $115,000 in Social Security, rent subsidies.

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posted by Home Equity Theft Reporter at 4:00 AM