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Oceanside resident Akosua Agyeman, age 48, allegedly impersonated a cousin who was the rightful beneficiary of the benefits following the death of the cousin’s father, a = New York City transit worker.
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said that Agyeman has been charged with:
- Second-degree grand larceny;
- First-degree identity theft;
- Offering a false instrument for filing;
- First-degree falsifying business records.
According to the indictment, beginning in December 2017, Agyeman allegedly made a series of fraudulent filings with NYCERS in which she purported to be the daughter of Kwaku Duah, a longtime employee of the Transit Authority who died in November 2017.
Gonzalez noted that Duah had previously designated his daughter - who Agyeman posed as - to be the beneficiary of death benefits that are paid to NYCERS members if they die before retiring.
He said that because Duah’s daughter - the actual beneficiary - changed her name before being declared as such, it allowed Agyeman to impersonate her cousin to obtain the benefits.
The filings Agyeman submitted to NYCERS are alleged to include a Ghanaian passport, a birth certificate without her cousin’s new name, and an IRS taxpayer ID number in the cousin’s name.
Investigators said that on May 1, 2020, NYCERS mailed a $135,178 check to Agyeman’s Oceanside home, which she later allegedly deposited into a Bethpage Federal Credit Union bank account, which she opened using a fake Delaware driver’s license.
“As charged in the indictment, this defendant impersonated her own cousin, including through the use of fraudulent documents, to obtain a $135,000 death benefit,” NYC Department of Investigation Commissioner Jocelyn Strauber said in a statement. "In so doing, she stole from her cousin, the legal beneficiary, and from the NYCERS.
“I thank NYCERS for promptly alerting DOI so that we could uncover this alleged scheme, and the dedicated prosecutors at the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office for their partnership in holding accountable those who improperly enrich themselves with City funds at the expense of legitimate beneficiaries.”
Agyeman was released without bail and is scheduled to return to court on Wednesday, June 29.
“(Agyeman) allegedly attempted to defraud New York’s retirement system by impersonating a relative and claiming benefits to which she was not entitled,” Gonzalez said. “I would like to thank the Department of Investigation and my prosecutors for all the work they did to bring (her) to justice.”
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