A Forest Hills man was accused of posing as his dead mother in order to reap her Holocaust survivor benefits, the Queens District Attorney said.
Gary Jacoby, 61, of 108th Street, was charged with grand larceny and criminal possession of a forged instrument for allegedly receiving benefits from the German government that should have stopped when his mother Laura Jacoby died in January 2008, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said. He supposedly stole more than $56,000 in benefits from the time of her death through 2012, Brown said.
“The defendant is accused of unjustly enriching himself and as such must now face the consequences of his alleged actions,” Brown said.
A criminal complaint against Jacoby said he was pocketing his 93-year-old mother’s pension from the German government and forging her signature on life certificate forms between 2008 and 2012 in order to keep the money flowing, Brown said. Each year, Brown said Jacoby would bring the forms to a notary who knew his mother was no longer alive, who signed off on the forms anyway.
It was also alleged that Jacoby went over to the German Embassy in March 2012 and said his mother was still alive, the DA said.
The DA reviewed his checking account and found that $56,932 was received in German pension funds between Feb. 26, 2008 and Feb. 29, 2012 since Jacoby’s mother’s death.
Jacoby was arraigned last Thursday and released on his own recognizance with a return court date of Oct. 14. He faces up to 15 years in prison, Brown said.
By The Forum staff
