Link.
Some of the assholes:
They spat on the memory of the real victims of 9/11.
Dozens of former city cops and firefighters used the 2001 terror attacks as an excuse to fund carefree lifestyles on the taxpayers dime, authorities said Tuesday.
The former NYPD and FDNY members who claimed to have suffered stress-related woes from the World Trade Center attacks were among 106 people indicted for a longstanding Social Security disability scam, officials said.
A former Brooklyn cop, Glenn Lieberman, 44, became the unwitting poster boy for the sprawling ripoff ring, which includes 71 other retired city cops, eight former firefighters and five ex-correction employees.
Lieberman, accused of being part of the crooked crew that soaked taxpayers for $21.5 million, showed his contempt in an undated photo released by prosecutors with a sick grin and two extended middle fingers.
He and the former cops and firefighters were coached by ringleaders to act dysfunctional and steered to shady doctors who helped green-light disability payments of anywhere from $30,000 to $50,000 a year, the 205-count indictment charges.
I can only express my disgust at the actions of the individuals involved in this scheme, Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said.
He said he was particularly chagrined that 72 former members of the NYPD disgraced themselves, embarrassed their families.
The idea that many of them chose the events of 9/11 to claim as the bases for this disability brings further dishonor to themselves, Bratton added.
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. suggested there might be additional indictments beyond those announced Tuesday by the time they wrap up the probe. The scammers operated from January 1988 until last month, and some 1,000 people filed fraudulent claims for as much as $400 million, Vance said.
The suspects flaunted their money and carefree lifestyle on social media, apparently never dreaming they would be caught.
The brazenness is shocking, said Vance.
Take Lieberman, an ex-Brooklyn South Gangs officer who quit the force in 2006 after 19 years on the job and collected $175,758.40 in disability payments based on a bogus claim of having a psychiatric disorder, prosecutors charged.
But the ex-cop, who now lives in Palm Beach, Fla., doesnt look like a tortured soul as he sits on a Jet-Ski and flips a pair of birds in the photo.
Lieberman, who is charged with second-degree grand larceny and criminal solicitation, could not be reached for comment. He faces up to 15 years in prison.
But he was not the only suspect who lived the good life thanks to the fraudulent payments, officials said.
Vincent Lamantia, 43, a retired NYPD officer, used the $150,000 in disability money he collected between May 2010 and June 2013 to fund his lifestyle, Assistant District Attorney Bryan Serino said.
He bragged about what he was doing in a series of YouTube videos, Serino added.
Richard Cosentino, a 49-year-old retired NYPD officer who now lives in New Hampshire, posted a photo of himself on Facebook with a massive marlin he caught.
It was an awesome day off the coast of Costa Rica, he wrote on Sept. 11, 2012, while many New Yorkers were marking the anniversary of the terror attacks.
Prosecutors say Cosentino stole nearly $208,000 between May 2008 and June 2013. He appears happy and functional in his picture.
Louis (Shidoshi) Hurtado, a 60-year-old former NYPD officer, has collected a whopping $470,395.20 since June 1989.
But being diagnosed with psychiatric problems didnt stop him from running his own mixed martial arts school outside Tampa and boasting on its website about serving as a personal bodyguard to stars including Sean Connery and James Caan.
Prosecutors said the four ringleaders of the scheme should have known better.
Raymond Lavallee, 83, of Massapequa, L.I., accused of being the brains of the operation, is a former FBI agent who once ran the rackets bureau at the Nassau County DAs office.
Thomas Hale, 89, of Bellmore, L.I., who allegedly served as Lavallees right-hand man, is a pension consultant.
Joseph Esposito, 64, of Valley Stream, L.I., a retired New York police officer, allegedly recruited many of the crooked cops and firefighters.
And John Minerva, 61, of Malverne, L.I., also allegedly steered people into the scam. He has been suspended from the Detectives Endowment Association.
The four alleged ringleaders are charged with first- and second-degree grand larceny and attempted second-degree grand larceny. Each faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted.
Esposito said nothing when he turned himself in earlier Tuesday.
While these are serious allegations, we were aware that they were coming, his lawyer, Brian Griffin, said. We did not avoid them.
The lawyers for the other accused ringleaders protested their clients innocence.
Minervas lawyer, Glenn Hardy, said: My clients involvement in this scheme was minimal at best.
Joseph Conway, who represents Hale, said his client was a decorated World War II veteran.
For the last 30 years, hes run a legitimate consulting company, Conway said. He vehemently denies any wrongdoing.
Lavallees lawyer, Raymond Perini, said his client is a Korean War vet and former G-man who investigated organized crime in New York and Miami.
Hes denied each and every allegation, Perini said.
In an 11-page bail letter addressed to Justice Daniel Fitzgerald, prosecutors said cops seeking to claim a disability would seek out Esposito or Minerva, who would then steer them to Hale and Lavallee.
But it was Esposito who coached the applicants on what to say to doctors and urged them to pretend to have panic attacks.
Youre gonna tell em, I dont sleep well at night, Esposito was caught on a wiretap telling one defendant, Jacqueline Powell. Im up three, four times.
Esposito and the other ringleaders got a kickback for every patient diagnosed with a stress-related illness, prosecutors charged. So did at least two doctors who were part of the scam.
None of the doctors involved has been named or indicted but they could face charges at a later date, officials said.
The DAs office took on the probe after a Social Security official noticed a series of applications that all seem to be written with the same hand and that all had similar diagnoses.
The NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau joined the probe and uncovered the retired officers allegedly participating in the ripoff.
Patrolmens Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch said the union doesnt condone anyone filing false claims.
Some of the assholes:
