$25,000 in bribes gets Social Security worker 2 years in fed pen

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: A former Social Security worker from Hudson County was sentenced in Newark today to two years in federal prison for taking $25,000 in bribes to get immediate disability benefits for people who weren’t eligible.

Jerry DeMarco

07/12/2011 8:16 p.m.

Margarita Diaz, 40, of Bayonne, will serve nearly the entire prison sentence behind bars, under federal guidelines. She’ll also be under federal supervision for two years after her release.

Diaz admitted that she processed claims through the computer system at the Social Security Administration’s Jersey City office that helped people get “presumptive” disability payments, which are immediately issued to those suffering a severe disability while waiting for the six-month qualification review period to pass.

U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman credited special agents with the Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General New York Field Division for making the case, which was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Magdo of his office’s Economic Crimes Unit in Newark.

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