A complaint was unsealed today in United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York charging Mahalia Abraham, an employee of New York City Human Resources Administration’s Office of Research and Program Monitoring, and William Hopkins, with stealing approximately $59,000 in benefits earmarked for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (“SNAP”) and Temporary Aid to Needy Families Program (“TANF”), which are funded by federal tax dollars.
The charges were announced by Bridget M. Rohde, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and Mark G. Peters, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Investigation (“DOI”).
As set forth in the complaint and other publicly filed documents, the charges against the defendants stem from an investigation that began when one SNAP recipient noticed $56 worth of benefits had been withdrawn from her SNAP electronic benefits transfer card (“EBT”) without her permission.
The investigation revealed that Abraham had accessed more than 100 SNAP and TANF recipients’ files to check their account balances and access their EBT account numbers as well as the names, dates of birth, and social security numbers of the intended recipients. Abraham passed this information on to her boyfriend, Hopkins, who used this information to change the PIN numbers on their victims’ cards.
Hopkins then keyed in the victims’ EBT card numbers and new PIN numbers at Rite Aid stores throughout Brooklyn in order to withdraw cash and purchase baby formula, which he sold to bodegas for cash.
In total, the defendants Abraham and Hopkins stole approximately $53,000 in SNAP benefits and $6,000 in TANF benefits.
‘As alleged, the defendants used Mahalia Abraham’s position as an HRA employee to access the personal information of public assistance recipients, and to steal tens of thousands of dollars earmarked for needy New Yorkers,’ stated Acting United States Attorney Rohde.
The defendants will be arraigned this afternoon at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn before United States Magistrate Judge Vera M. Scanlon.
The charges in the complaint are allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
According to DOI Commissioner Peters, the case began with a complaint from a recipient who noticed $56 in SNAP benefits missing from her account and ultimately led DOI to uncover tens of thousands of dollars in fraud.
The investigation was conducted by the Office of the Inspector General for DOI, with the assistance of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.
The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s General Crimes Section. Assistant United States Attorney Kaitlin T. Farrell is in charge of the prosecution.
The defendants face a maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment if convicted of the offense.
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Key Facts
- State: New York
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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