Gran scam: $160G in Social Security fraud

A SCAMMER grandma said she siphoned off some $160,000 in Social Security benefits through a scheme involving the identity of her ex-husband’s wife.

Joyce Cohen, 60, pleaded guilty Wednesday in Brooklyn Federal Court to running a Social Security scam for 23 years. Her 1994 Social Security application complained of impairments like “major depression” and “cocaine abuse,” according to court papers.

But prosecutors said Cohen has been a registered nurse since 1988 and was working in the name of the other woman, according to court papers.

Cohen will have to repay the money — and pay the city Housing Authority about $117,000 for a related swindle.

Court papers said Cohen married her husband in 1990. The unidentified man was already married, though, to an Israeliborn woman who came to America in 1972. In 1991, Cohen had her name changed to match the first wife’s. A year later, an application was made so that the first wife had the same birth date as Cohen.

Cohen said she and her husband were ultimately granted a religious divorce known as a “get.”

On Wednesday, she tearfully told Judge Eric Vitaliano she and her ex-husband — who’s not charged in the case — wrongly received the benefits.

“The intention was to get Social Security benefits when we were not entitled to them,” she wept.

Prosecutors said her sentence could run up to two years.

Cohen’s lawyer declined to comment on the plea.