NYPD Officer, Wife Accused of Impersonating Dead Mother to Steal $300K
MARINE PARK – An NYPD officer and his wife were charged Tuesday with 101 counts of fraud totaling more than $300,000, according to the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office.
Edward Ian St. Hill, 52, and Maria Ramos, (AKA Sunne St. Hill), 45, were indicted for using the identity of Edward St. Hill’s deceased mother, Germain St. Hill, to defraud Social Security and Benefit funds up to $88,000. Ramos allegedly impersonated the dead woman on the phone, the couple continued to refill her prescription for narcotic painkillers, fraudulently sold her home for $260,000 and attempted to defraud another $160,000 in life insurance annuities.
Both suspects are charged with third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, second-degree grand larceny, first-degree identity theft, second-degree forgery, third-degree money laundering, first-degree scheme to defraud, fifth-degree conspiracy, and falsely reporting an incident, among various other charges.
“These defendants, a police officer and his wife, allegedly took advantage of his own mother’s death to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars to which they were not entitled,” District Attorney Eric Gonzales said in a statement. “This greedy and macabre conduct is even more egregious because police officers take an oath to uphold the law. We now intend to hold both defendants accountable for their alleged criminal conduct.”
St. Hill, a 16-year veteran assigned to the 71st Precinct in Crown Heights, was arraigned Tuesday before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun in which he was ordered held on $200,000 bond and $100,000 cash bail. Ramos, of Marine Park, was ordered held on $50,000 bond and $20,000 cash bail.
Both were ordered to return to court on Nov. 7, 2018. They face up to 25 years in prison if convicted of the top count.
“Police officers swear an oath to hold themselves accountable to the highest standards of ethics and integrity, said Police Commissioner James P. O’Neill. “ And when they intentionally violate that promise, they tarnish the reputation of all good cops – making their jobs much more difficult – and erode the trust we have worked so hard to earn in all of our communities.”
The DA’s office said the defendants caused a death certificate to be generated for Germain St. Hill that showed an incorrect social security number and never notified authorities to correct the error while continuing to collect of Germain St. Hill’s Social Security, pension and benefit checks which totaled more than $38,000 and $50,000 respectively. Ramos allegedly impersonated her deceased mother-in-law in calls to Social Security and the pension fund.
The defendants also fraudulently closed on the sale of Germain St. Hill’s home, garnering $260,000 and continued to refill her Percocet prescriptions 14 separate occasions after her death.
