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Queens resident Michael Conway, 60, was arrested early on Wednesday, Aug. 28, U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue announced. He is scheduled to appear later in the day in Brooklyn federal court for his initial appearance.
It is alleged that Conway began receiving retirement, survivors and disabilities benefits from the Social Security Administration (SSA) in May 2009 for a work-related injury he suffered while employed by the NYPD.
Donoghue said that in August 2009, Conway applied for auxiliary benefits on behalf of his twin children, who were 8-years-old at the time. Conway allegedly falsely claimed that his children resided with him in Queens and that no other relatives provided financial support for the children.
Based on the false information provided by the defendant, the SSA approved the application and granted Conway’s request to receive and manage the SSA funds to which his children were entitled.
According to Donoghue, Conway’s fraud was discovered when his son, upon applying to the SSA for benefits, learned that SSA had been paying benefits to Conway on his children’s behalf since 2009 and that Conway had received a total of $138,016.60.
The twins’ mother informed the SSA that she was awarded custody of the children in December 2002 and they had never lived with Conway.
Conway was charged with wire fraud. If convicted, he faces a maximum term of 20 years in prison and will have to pay restitution.
“As alleged in the complaint, for nearly a decade, the defendant committed a fraud on his family and SSA by unlawfully collecting and keeping funds that had been provided for the care of his children based on false statements he made to the government,” Donoghue said in a statement. “This Office will remain vigilant in identifying and prosecuting those like the defendant who collect benefits to which they are not entitled.”
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