Schneiderman: Queens Woman Accused of Hurricane Sandy Scam

A Fresh Meadows woman has been accused of receiving more than $87,000 in beneftis by falsely claiming to have been a victim of Hurricane Sandy, state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said.

Caterina Curatolo is alleged to have carried out an elaborate scheme to defraud city and federal relief agencies, charitable organizations and a private insurance company.

She has been charged with grand larceny, insurance fraud, scheme to defraud, falsifying business records and multiple counts of offering a false instrument for filing, the attorney general said. If convicted, she faces up to seven years in prison.

“My office will do everything in our power to crack down on anyone who uses a national emergency like Sandy for personal gain,” Schneiderman said. “Scammers who trade on tragedy will be exposed and punished.”

After Sandy left devastation across the five boroughs in October, the defendant allegedly falsely represented herself as a Sandy evacuee to obtain free hotel rooms and other benefits.

She is alleged to have told the mayor’s office of Housing Recovery Operations that her home on 159th Street in Fresh Meadows was left uninhabitable by the storm.

But an investigation by the attorney general’s office discovered that damage to her home allegedly dated back to the summer of 2011.

Investigators also allegedly identified Federal Emergency Management Agency records indicating that Curatolo had made a similar claim about damage to her home following Hurricane Irene’s visit to Queens in 2011.

Although Curatolo is alleged to have told multiple agencies that she was left homeless by Sandy, she owns a second residence next door.

During the course of her alleged scheme, the defendant was given free stays at hotels in Long Island City, East Elmhurst and Brooklyn, costing the city a total $83,500.

Curatolo was also provided with additional benefits, including a one-time payment by HRA of $250 for the purchase of food allegedly lost during Sandy as well as an American Red Cross debit card with an allowance of $100 per week.

The defendant was given a total $3,590 to spend on food, but she instead allegedly spent some of the money at Best Buy, Dressbarn, Marshalls, Fabco Shoes, Eric Shoes, Optical Boutique, Exclusive Eyes and Scoresense.com, Schneiderman said.

Curatolo is also accused of making a fraudulent auto insurance claim, alleging that her car was totaled due to water damage. But an insurance company inspection found no such damage.