A man has been charged after he allegedly dressed up as his dead mother and claimed more than $US100,000 in government benefits.Thomas Parkin had lived with his mother, Irene Prusik, until she died in 2003 at the age of 73.But then Parkin hatched a bizarre plot by falsifying her death certificate and collecting $US52,000 from her benefit cheques over the next six years, US prosecutors claim.In April this year, when Mrs Prusik had already been dead for six years, someone showed up at the Department of Motor Vehicles in Brooklyn, New York to renew her driver's licence.--------------------------MORE ODD NEWS ...
Gold vending machines introduced in Germany Woman falls asleep, has 56 stars tattooed on face Puppy flushed down toilet: boy says sorry-------------------------Prosecutors say it was her son, in a dress.Parkin and the man accused of being his accomplice, Mhilton Rimolo, pleaded not guilty to grand larceny, criminal impersonation and other charges.Both men were ordered held on $US1 million bail.Authorities say Parkin also got another $US65,000 in rent subsidies by falsely claiming he had a disability and that his mother was still alive and was his landlord.Parkin used his friend Rimolo to pose as the mother's nephew when going to cash cheques and do other business, prosecutors said.A security camera photo from the office shows a frail-looking Parkin in a wig and dark glasses filling out paperwork, with Rimolo by his side.The alleged scam began to unravel amid a dispute over the mother's home, which was sold at foreclosure in 2003. Parkin challenged the purchase by suing the new owner on his mother's behalf so he wouldn't be evicted.As the property dispute dragged out, both sides eventually contacted the district attorney to accuse each other of fraud.By the time investigators arranged a meeting with the family in May, they already had proof Prusik was dead: a photo of her tombstone in a cemetery.Investigators played along as Parkin showed up for the interview "wearing a red cardigan, lipstick, manicured nails and breathing through an oxygen mask'', prosecutors said.
