PUBLIC ASSISTANCE CRIMES 

With the financial situation that the country and more specifically the city is in today, it is especially important to make sure that those who need help are able to receive government benefits to help them survive.  Thousands of individuals in NYC rely on assistance such as Welfare, Rental Assistance, Cash Assistance, Medicaid and Food Stamps.  To these individuals, it is the difference between having a place to live, having food on their tables, and having clothes on their backs.   Unfortunately, there are greedy scammers who try to take advantage of the government and steal funds for which they are ineligible.  In essence, they are stealing money from those who are less fortunate and they are costing the taxpayers more of their hard earned money.  They do this by lying about their resources, careers and living arrangements.  By stealing these benefits, the scammers are depleting funds that should go to the poorest citizens who rely on these crucial safety nets. 

Headed up by Bureau Chief Lauren Mack, the District Attorney’s Office’s Public Assistance Crimes (PAC) Unit was established in 2000 to crack down on these types of fraud.  Additionally, The PAC Unit investigates, apprehends and prosecutes individuals engaged in Medicaid-related black market Prescription Medication trafficking. This Unit often works in conjunction with other city and state agencies including the NYS Department of Investigation, the NYPD, NYC Bureau of Frauds and NYS Department of Labor.

A perfect example of this kind of welfare fraud is a recent case last month in which the District Attorney’s Office and the NYC Human Resources Administration announced the indictments of five different welfare cheats who collectively stole more than $500,000 in benefits.  All of the defendants in these separate cases had successful careers – one owned a clothing store, another individual is a real estate executive, and a couple collected benefits even though they owned their own home and the wife traveled around the world on rental assistance payments that they were receiving from the government.

Two of those defendants, Marina Gavrielova, 36, and Arkadiy Abramov, 39, concealed the fact that they lived together and had children in common, for five years, so they could collect welfare to pay for childcare, rent, health care and food stamps, none of which they actually qualified for. Passport stamps and travel receipts indicate that, while Gavrielova claimed to lack the income to support her family, she traveled to such far-flung locales as Mexico, Italy, and multiple destinations in the Caribbean.  Gavrielova claimed on applications for welfare benefits that she was a single mother renting her apartment from Abramov, whom she claimed no connection to. However, Abramov is the father of Gavrielova’s children and supports his family driving a limousine he owns, through which he earned up to $98,000 annually, during the time Gavrielova collected welfare benefits. He also owns the home he lives in with Gavrielova and their children, which she collected welfare assistance to “rent” from him. 

By prosecuting and sentencing these offenders, we are sending a message that this fraudulent activity will not be tolerated.

LAUREN MACK 

Lauren Mack is the Bureau Chief of the DA’s Public Assistance Crimes Unit, a position which she has held since 2000 when the Unit was formed.  Ms. Mack graduated from Cardozo Law School in 1989 and studied criminal law and advocacy under the tutelage of Barry Scheck.  While in law school, she worked at white-collar defense firm Fischetti, Pomerantz & Russo.  After graduation, Ms. Mack came to the DA’s Office where she worked as a prosecutor in several bureaus over the past 19 years including the Major Offense Bureau, Domestic Violence, Major Narcotics and the Grey Trial Zone.  Ms. Mack served as Deputy of the Grand Jury Bureau and was later promoted to Bureau Chief of the Crimes Against Children Bureau.  In 2000, she became Bureau Chief of the PAC Unit with the goal of protecting the integrity of the Welfare system and ensuring its availability to those in need by prosecuting those who steal from it.  Ms. Mack has investigated and prosecuted many high-profile cases where defendants have stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars in benefits for which they were ineligible. 

Ms. Mack is a single mother of two who has lived in the city for over 22 years.  She is familiar with the hardships of living in the city and understands how important the welfare system is for those who are truly in need.

The following op-ed piece that was run by the Daily News this past week may be of interest to you or members of your community 

Red Hook's Justice Center serves as a model to world 

BY CHARLES HYNES

Monday, October 27th 2008, 3:40 PM

The Red Hook Community Justice Center is the first multi-jurisdictional community court in the nation. The Justice Center, a collaborative effort between the Kings County District Attorney's Office, the Center for Court Innovation and the Office of Court Administration, was developed as a response to tragically high levels of crime, unemployment and general community disorder that the Red Hook neighborhood experienced in the 1980s and early 1990s.

For me, the crisis facing Red Hook became particularly personal when, in 1990, Patrick Daly, the principal of the local elementary school, was killed in gang crossfire while searching the Red Hook Houses for a student who ran out of the school after a fight.

I successfully prosecuted Principal Daly's killers, and simultaneously made a personal commitment to creating solutions for this struggling community. When the Red Hook Community Justice Center opened in 2000, I was able to deliver on this special promise.

The Justice Center houses an innovative, problem-solving court. The Criminal Court alone adjudicates about 4,000 cases annually. Although physically located in Red Hook, the court covers the misdemeanor cases arising in three police precincts - the 72nd, 76th and 78th. The cases range from such quality-of-life offenses as graffiti, trespass, and unreasonable noise to driving while intoxicated, prostitution, drug possession, assault and domestic violence.

Embracing the philosophy that public safety and crime reduction are not achieved by incarcerating nonviolent offenders, the prosecutors at Red Hook strive to administer justice with common sense and compassion.

Whenever possible and appropriate, they use rehabilitative, educational and preventive measures with an ultimate goal of reducing recidivism. The sentences can include drug, alcohol and mental health treatment, vocational counseling, GED classes, anger management, batterer's programs, performing community service, restitution, mediation, youth groups, groups specially designed for prostitutes and those offenders who patronize them, defensive-driving classes and more.

When crafting sentences, prosecutors strive to address the needs of the victim, to recompense the community and to offer the defendant services that are likely to reduce the odds of reoffending. Therefore, sentencing often involves a combination of sanctions and services. Jail sentences are sought for violent offenders and for career criminals who decline to accept alternative sentencing.

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/brooklyn/2008/10/27/2008-10-27_red_hooks_justice_center_serves_as_a_mod.html