New York Post – by Kate Sheehy and Frank Rosario
A Queens garbage man impersonated his dead twin brother — even renting out two apartments and pawning himself off as his tragic sibling at one of the addresses — in an elaborate welfare scam that netted him more than half-a-million dollars, authorities said Tuesday.
City Sanitation worker Thomas Murphy’s twin, Robert, died a day after their birth in March 1962, officials said.
But decades later his greedy sibling allegedly concocted a twisted scheme in which he used Robert’s identity to bilk the government out of $581,805.80, authorities said Tuesday.
The fraud went on for 20 years until Murphy was done in by facial-recognition technology at the state Department of Motor Vehicles — which picked up on the fact that Thomas’ face was also on the license he got in Robert’s name, authorities said.
“It sounds like a novel, doesn’t it?’’ said Kevin Ryan, a spokesman for the Queens District Attorney’s Office, which is prosecuting Murphy.
Another source added, “It’s amazing, and a little bit morbid.’’
Nothing was too low for Murphy, now 52, in his quest for money, authorities said.
Posing as Robert, Thomas Murphy allegedly claimed he suffered from depression and qualified for Social Security disability benefits in his brother’s name.
Thomas Murphy also received government housing subsidies and food stamps, again as Robert — even using some of the illicit dough to rent a separate apartment in Rockaway Park and introducing himself to neighbors as “Robert Murphy,’’ said officials and local residents.
“I had no idea he was cheating the system. He went by ‘Robert,’ ” said his former landlord on Beach 119th Street, who asked not to be identified.
“Not once did he ever mention having a brother.
“He paid the rent on time, but you never saw the guy,’’ the man added of Murphy, who lives in another rented apartment on Shore Front Parkway, using his real name.
“Actually, he never actually paid me any money out of his own pocket. There was some sort of federal organization or philanthropist’s group that paid the rent on his behalf.”
Murphy — who earned close to $80,000 a year hauling trash — allegedly started the scam in 1994, using a Social Security card that his since-deceased father got for Robert in 1973. It’s unclear why the dad got a card for his dead son, sources said.
Owen McShane, the DMV’s director of investigations, said his office has uncovered thousands of illegal licenses with the facial recognition technology — but none involving a twin using his sibling’s image for alleged welfare fraud.
“This is the first case,’’ he said.
He said that after DMV probers noticed the similarities in photos, they checked with Social Security and learned that Robert was dead.
The state Office of the Welfare Inspector led the ensuing probe.
No one answered Murphy’s door on Shore Front Parkway, even though music and noise could be heard inside. His lawyer also did not return a phone call or e-mail seeking comment.
Additional reporting by Laurel Babcock
http://nypost.com/2014/09/09/man-impersonates-dead-brother-to-get-over-500k-in-welfare-benefits/
“He said that after DMV probers noticed the similarities in photos, they checked with Social Security and learned that Robert was dead.”
But he can still vote in some states.
Haha!