A Canarsie man accused of stealing $624,000 from the pensions of two retired New York City employees was arraigned Tuesday on a nine-count indictment, the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office announced.
Gregory Mathieu, 40, appeared before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun on Nov. 19, facing charges that include first-degree corrupting the government, two counts of second-degree grand larceny, two counts of first-degree identity theft, and four counts of first-degree offering a false instrument for filing.
Prosecutors allege Mathieu exploited his position as an Associate Retirement Benefits Examiner with the New York City Employees’ Retirement System (NYCERS) to carry out the thefts between February 2021 and January 2024.
“This defendant is accused of exploiting his trusted position to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from the New York City Employee Retirement System, betraying retirees’ dignity and the public trust,” District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in Tuesday’s announcement.
“The financial security of more than 350,000 current and former city employees who rely on NYCERS is vital to their well-being and peace of mind. These are our neighbors—people who have dedicated their lives to serving New Yorkers—and we will not tolerate anyone preying on them,” Gonzalez added.
The indictment alleges that Mathieu reactivated the suspended pension account of a deceased Department of Sanitation supervisor, fraudulently collecting $242,000 in retroactive payments and $5,700 in monthly payments between May 2021 and January 2024.
In a separate incident, prosecutors claim Mathieu stole approximately $199,000 from a 75-year-old retired Metropolitan Transportation Authority worker whose account had been suspended due to uncashed pension checks. The alleged theft was discovered in January 2024, when the retiree attempted to reactivate his account.
Jocelyn Strauber, commissioner of the New York City Department of Investigation, accused Mathieu of leveraging his 15 years of experience with NYCERS to bypass internal controls and divert pension funds.
As a result of the joint investigation with the DA’s office, the DOI chief said the agency will be making recommendations to strengthen NYCERS’ systems, including increased oversight of changes to pensioners’ account information.
Mathieu, currently suspended with pay, is scheduled to return to court on Feb. 5. His lawyers did not respond to Brooklyn Paper’s request for comment by press time.
