Monsey couple admit stealing $76G from welfare programs

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Monsey couple admit stealing $76G from welfare programs









A Monsey couple who lived in a $775,000 house and held several million-dollar mortgages has pleaded guilty to stealing nearly $76,000 from welfare programs.

Nathan, 53, and Mindy Myski, 50, the parents of 12 children, must repay at least $25,000 of the amount stolen before their sentencing on June 14 to avoid prison sentences.

The Myskis are looking to pay off all the money by their sentencing, prosecutors and defense lawyers said Tuesday.

If there is leftover restitution, the couple would have their five-year probation period to pay back the money at 5 percent monthly interest.

Nathan and Mindy Myski pleaded guilty Monday to third-degree grand larceny as part of a plea agreement accepted by County Judge Charles Apotheker at the Rockland County Courthouse in New City.

Their plea covers a third-degree welfare fraud count and won't carry a prison sentence if restitution is made, Mindy Myski's lawyer, William Frank, said on Tuesday.

"I am confident they will make the restitution," Frank said.


The couple, whose last name had been listed on documents as Misky, had faced 4⁄ to 14 years in prison.

The Myskis were arrested after an investigation by the Rockland District Attorney's Office, the Rockland Department of Social Services and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of the Inspector General.

Between February 2006 and April 2007, the Myskis illegally obtained $26,238 in federal Section 8 rent subsidy benefits, Rockland District Attorney Thomas Zugibe said.

Nathan Myski filed paperwork to illegally qualify for Section 8 rent subsidies while living in the couple's Maple Avenue house, for which his wife signed papers claiming she was his landlord.

Their six-bedroom house, with three bathrooms, was bought for $775,000 in 2005.

They transferred ownership to several holding companies, prosecutors said.

The couple also collected $49,661 in food stamps and Medicaid benefits between April 2006 and February 2008 through the Rockland Department of Social Services, prosecutors said.

While collecting the government money, the Myskis held mortgages on several million-dollar properties in Rockland and the lower Hudson Valley.

Zugibe has said the couple provided false information to government agencies to qualify for the subsidy programs.

They failed to report multiple bank accounts, containing hundreds of thousands of dollars, and property in Rockland and Sullivan counties worth several million dollars.

Mindy Misky also stated on mortgage documents that her job was a sales representative selling vitamins.

When investigators called the company she named, they were told she no longer worked for the firm.

The couple's assets remain frozen under a court order obtained by Executive Assistant District Attorney Gary Lee Heavner.

Zugibe said Tuesday that the promised sentence for the Myskis was appropriate for first-time offenders and they were being treated no differently than any other defendants who committed nonviolent crimes.

He said his office will ensure the government programs are reimbursed.

He said the Myskis also will be sentenced to community service.

"They have no prior record, and if they don't come up with the full restitution, the judge told them he will lock them up," Zugibe said.

Frank praised Zugibe and Apotheker for demanding repayment rather than prison time for the couple.

"The key thing is the restitution," Frank said. "The federal government, the state and county will be made whole."

Frank said neither his client nor Nathan Myski had a criminal record prior to their arrest in July 2009.

"They showed poor judgment, which is an understatement," Frank said.

"They have no prior criminal record, and I believe they have eight children at home who need to be supported."

Nathan Myski's lawyer, Michael Burke of Suffern, didn't return a telephone call for comment.

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