BOSTON, Oct. 14, 2014—Two Brighton women already charged with stealing more than $450,000 from a disabled, elderly neighbor have now been indicted for the theft of nearly $200,000 in Social Security and Medicare benefits, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

The indictments, returned late last month, charge RANDI BERKOWITZ (D.O.B. 12/11/50) and PATRICIA DiGIACOMO (D.O.B. 1/18/56) with two counts each of larceny by continuing scheme over $250 and one count each of receiving stolen property by continuing scheme.  The charges reflect the payment of Social Security Disability Insurance and Medicare benefits based upon a false application filed by the two women in one of their names.  It also reflects the payment of Supplemental Security Income benefits to both women for periods when neither was eligible.

Prosecutors say Berkowitz began receiving SSDI benefits in 1994 and later posed as DiGiacomo, causing DiGiacomo to receive benefits to which she was not entitled. Because SSDI beneficiaries are automatically eligible for Medicare, they also received tens of thousands of dollars in coverage for medical and prescription services for which they were also not entitled. By Sept. 30, when the indictments were returned, the total loss to Social Security and Medicare was $198,428.

Berkowitz and DiGiacomo are currently charged with a raft of embezzlement, larceny, perjury, and related offenses for allegedly taking advantage of a 74-year-old Brighton woman by draining her bank account and even taking control of her Strathmore Street home before authorities uncovered the scam. A 63-count indictment stemming from those alleged actions was returned in April.

The new case was investigated by police and prosecutors assigned to the DA’s Special Prosecutions Unit, the Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General, and the Department of Health & Human Service’s Office of the Inspector General.

Berkowitz and DiGiacomo are expected to be arraigned on the new charges in the Magistrate Session of Suffolk Superior Court tomorrow morning. They are represented by attorneys Susan Rayburn and Srikanth Reddy.

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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.