Former NYPD cop pleads guilty to disability scam while working as strip club security guard
New York City NY April 18 2019
A former NYPD officer’s 20-year disability scam was laid bare Monday when he pleaded guilty to accepting benefits while working as a strip club security guard.
Gerard Scparta, 54, took $638,000 in disability benefits from the Social Security Administration and underreported his income by $268,000 after leaving the department in 1997, claiming an injury left him unable to perform his job.
Meanwhile, he earned $1.6 million working as a security guard at a “prominent” strip club in Manhattan, prosecutors said.
“He stole money from truly disabled individuals who are dependent on this important source of public support,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said.
Scparta, of Orange County, filled out paperwork falsely claiming he was depressed, disabled and mostly staying around the house while earning money at the unnamed jiggle joint, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sagar Ravi said.
Under the terms of his plea the government will seek a sentence of around three years in prison. He agreed to forfeit $638,000 in benefits and pay back taxes.
He was arrested one year ago along with two other former police officers.
“I knew it was wrong at the time I did it,” Scparta said.
