Cops: Third arrest in welfare fraud case

A Hempstead woman is the third person arrested on welfare fraud charges in a case in which a worker from the Nassau County Department of Social Services funneled benefits of $29,000 illegally to recipients, police said Monday.

Nassau County's Crimes Against Property Squad said Ebony Hackett, 27, of 100 Terrace Ave., was released on her own recognizance after being arraigned Monday at First District Court in Hempstead on charges of grand larceny and welfare fraud, the district attorney's office said.

Hackett, who is due back in court Wednesday, is represented by the Legal Aid Society in Nassau, which customarily does not comment on behalf of clients.

Hackett received fraudulent benefits from Nicole Garcia, 28, a social services worker who issued "a series of fraudulent monetary disbursements" totaling $29,000 between December 2010 and January 2011, police said.

Hackett, Garcia, of Freeport, and another woman, Tiara Clemons, 30, of Uniondale, split the proceeds, police said.

Garcia and Clemons were arraigned Oct. 12. Garcia is due back in court Friday on charges of grand larceny, tampering with public records, welfare fraud, falsifying business records, offering a false instrument, defrauding the government and official misconduct.

Clemons' next court date is Thursday on charges of grand larceny and welfare fraud.

County officials said an inquiry by the Department of Social Services investigations team uncovered the scheme after a tip from a confidential source. The information was then turned over to the Nassau police Crimes Against Property Squad.

Garcia was fired on Sept. 19, an agency spokeswoman said in October.