It’s true, I’m both of my hub’s wives

A BROOKLYN woman pulled an identity switcheroo with her onetime husband’s other wife to bilk the government for decades out of money and housing subsidies, authorities said Wednesday.

Joyce Cohen allegedly was disabled and receiving various benefits for years. At the same time, she was a nurse working under the name and Social Security number of another woman married to her husband. The swindle reaped Cohen at least $300,000 over decades, according to court papers.

She was arraigned Wednesday on Social Security, passport and housing voucher fraud.

Brooklyn Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Lax said Cohen, 60, was a flight risk, noting the grandmother had the wits to keep up the “two completely separate identities.” When government agents showed up at her apartment about a week ago, Lax said, Cohen tried to escape out a back window.

But James Darrow of the Federal Defenders of New York said Cohen was “deeply vulnerable” and had suffered an abusive relationship. Cohen divorced the man last year under Jewish law.

Darrow said Cohen had panic attacks — which would explain why she would “freak out” when government agents showed up.

Federal Magistrate Judge Cheryl Pollak ordered Cohen to be held pending a bail hearing Thursday.

Cohen wed the man in 1990, according to court documents. But the unidentified husband was already married. The government is not aware of any divorce between the original couple. In 1991, Cohen applied to change her name to the first wife’s. A year later, an application was made that matched the first wife’s birth date to Cohen’s.