N.Y. man dragged to court for impersonating dead mother

MOSCOW, June 18 (RIA Novosti) - A U.S. court will arraign a man on Thursday for dressing like his deceased mother to receive thousands of dollars in Social Security benefits and rent subsidies, the New York Post reported.

Thomas Parkin, 49, echoing Norman Bates in the movie Psycho, impersonated his dead adoptive mother to collect some $100,000 in benefit checks over a six-year period after her death.

Irene Prusik died at the age of 73 in 2003.

Parkin, dressed as Prusik, renewed her driver's license in April of this year.

Prusik was actually Parkin's aunt and adoptive mother. Parkin's biological mother, Virginia Prusik Font, abandoned Parkin when he was an infant. Parkin's biological father, also Thomas Parkin, entered into common law marriage with his sister-in-law until Parkin (Jr.) was 10.

Parkin's biological mother died in 2001, his biological father was also reported to have died.

The District Attorney's office said a second man, identified as Mhilton Rimolo, is accused of pretending to be Prusik's nephew during visits to collect government checks at banks. The "elderly aunt and nephew" were captured on surveillance cameras.

Parkins will be arraigned on Thursday for grand larceny, forgery and conspiracy charges.

Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes called the crime "unparalleled in its scope and brazenness."