By Nathan Duke
Two Astoria residents and a former Richmond Hill denizen have been accused of defrauding the city of thousands of dollars by concealing household income, city Department of Investigation Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn said.
Eddie Martinez, 34, and Lorgia Rodriguez, 32, both from Astoria, have been charged with grand larceny as well as multiple counts of falsifying business records and offering a false instrument for filing, Hearn said. If convicted, they each face up to seven years in prison, she said.
Martinez has been a NYCHA employee since February 1999 and, last year, received a salary of approximately $42,457.
Jimmy Ortiz, 41, who previously lived in Richmond Hill before moving to the Bronx, has also been charged with grand larceny as well as three counts each of falsifying business records and offering a false instrument for filing, Hearn said.
The three individuals allegedly bilked the city Housing Authority of a total $44,434 by not reporting household income and misrepresenting the number of people living in their apartment, Hearn said.
“Housing fraud is a crime that deprives needy families of limited subsidies and will result in arrest and prosecution,” she said.
Between 2004 and 2009, Rodriguez and Martinez are alleged to have lived together in an apartment at NYCHA’s Astoria Houses, but Rodriguez had filed documents stating she was the only person living at the site, Hearn said. Martinez allegedly filed documents purporting he was living in an apartment at NYCHA’s Queensbridge Houses in Long Island City, she said.
The city’s investigation is alleged to have found that Martinez was subletting his Queensbridge apartment and that by failing to report his annual income from his city employment as well as living in Rodriguez’s apartment, he defrauded the city of $19,284 in rent payments between July 2004 and April 2009, Hearn said.
Ortiz had been a NYCHA Section 8 recipient in Richmond Hill between July 2004 and January 2008, Hearn said. His rent was subsidized by NYCHA and determined by his household income.
But Ortiz allegedly failed to report income between $25,840 and $31,852 that he earned through working with job placement agencies between 2004 and 2007, the DOI commissioner said. He is accused of defrauding the city of $25,150 in rental subsidies, she said.
Reach reporter Nathan Duke by e-mail at nduke@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 156.
