谎称因“9·11”事件心理受创纽约警察、消防员骗巨额补助_BEC初级作文

谎称因“9·11”事件心理受创纽约警察、消防员骗巨额补助

The average annual payment was between $30,000 to $50,000 for each recipient, prosecutors said. Of the defendants, 72 were also collecting pensions as retirees of the NYPD, eight from the New York City Fire Department, five from the New York Department of Correction and one from the Nassau County Police Department.

Prosecutors said the defendants were meticulously instructed on how to fail memory tests with plausibility, how to dress and how to behave. Nearly every application included identical descriptions of the activities of daily living: "I nap on and off during the day;" "I have the TV on to keep me company;" "I'm up and down all night long."

The leaders of the scheme allegedly collected one-time cash payments based on the monthly disability awards -- ranging from approximately $20,000 to $50,000, prosecutors said. In addition, Lavallee also received $6,000 directly from the government for attorney's fees for each applicant.

The applicants were instructed to withdraw cash from the bank in increments under $10,000 to avoid raising suspicion or require the filing of government currency reports, according to court papers.

Some of those charged went on to hold other jobs, including teaching martial arts, even though the full disability they received involved a diagnosis that they were so traumatized they were incapable of performing any kind of work, officials added.

In some instances, prosecutor said, the total amount fraudulently obtained was nearly $500,000 per applicant. The average Social Security Disability Insurance payment to date for the defendants, which included retroactive lump sum payments, was about $210,000.