In a decision issued from Brooklyn’s federal courthouse, Marc Lazarre was sentenced to 30 months in prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Lazarre and an accomplice accessed personal information of homeless individuals to fraudulently claim unemployment benefits.
The Justice Department stated that Lazarre exploited a corrupt relationship with a city worker to access the personal information of vulnerable individuals. Lazarre is not the only one facing prison time; his co-conspirator, Olabanji Otufale, a former fraud investigator for the New York City Department of Homeless Services, previously received a 27-month sentence from Judge Matsumoto. Otufale served as the insider, extracting names, Social Security numbers, and dates of birth from a secure Department of Homeless Services database and providing this information to Lazarre, who used it to submit fraudulent unemployment benefit claims online.
United States Attorney Joseph Nocella, Jr. emphasized the seriousness of the fraud, stating, "The defendant exploited his relationship with a corrupt city employee to access vulnerable homeless victims’ personal identifying information in an attempt to defraud a state agency," as quoted in the press release. Officials highlight the consequences of these crimes, noting that they target vulnerable individuals and deplete public resources.
The case was handled by prosecutors from the Office’s Public Integrity Section, with Assistant United States Attorneys Sara K. Winik, Laura Zuckerwise, and Katherine P. Onyshko leading the prosecution. Lazarre's sentence addresses violations of public trust and exploitation of vulnerable populations, as stated by DOI Commissioner Jocelyn E. Strauber in the Department's official communication.
