A group of four alleged thieves that were accused of stealing over $30,000 in social security checks during the 2016 holiday season were charged with grand larceny and identity theft in Brooklyn Supreme Court this week.
The people involved in the scam included former postal employee Vanessa Brandie, Pay-O-Matic check cashing employee Paul Daniels, along with James Black and Lauren Johnson.
The way the scam allegedly worked was Bandie, the former letter carrier would steal the checks and give them to Black and Johnson for safe keeping. After the hot checks were stashed for a few days the criminal trio would take them to Daniels who would cash the checks for a cut of the money.
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez told the New York Post that $4,000 of the money was, "stole from the most vulnerable among us, including residents of homeless shelters. We will now seek to hold them accountable."
All five suspects pleaded not guilty and are due back in court the first week of December.
Photo Credit:Getty Images