Attorney General James Announces Arrest and Conviction of Former Correction Captain for Social Security Fraud

NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James today announced the arrest and conviction of Marc Silverman, Jr., 57, of Staten Island for fraudulently collecting over $200,000 of Social Security benefits for years. Silverman, a former Captain with the New York City Department of Correction (NYC DOC), applied for Social Security disability benefits in 2020, claiming that injuries from his job had rendered him unable to work. However, Silverman was not disabled and had been working since 2017 as a full-time special education bus driver. Silverman pleaded guilty today in Richmond County Court to two felonies for falsifying paperwork and using that false paperwork to unlawfully collect Social Security disability benefits.

Silverman worked for NYC DOC from 1990 to 2016. From 2017 to the present, Silverman has been working for Vinny’s Bus Service as a special education bus driver. In order to be licensed as a bus driver, Silverman submitted annual paperwork to the New York State Department of Education, affirming that he was physically capable of working.

In 2021, the Social Security Administration (SSA) approved Silverman’s application for disability benefits. Silverman ultimately received approximately $212,000 from SSA based on his false representation that he was disabled and unable to work.

Silverman pleaded guilty today before County Court Judge Alexander Jeong in Richmond County to one count of Welfare Fraud in the Fourth Degree, a class E felony, and one count of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree, a class E felony. He must complete 300 hours of community service by September 15 as a condition of his plea or potentially face jail time. 

The Office of the Attorney General wishes to thank the Office of the Inspector General Social Security Administration for their assistance and partnership in this matter, including Assistant Special Agent-in-Charge Julian Lugo, as well as Special Agent-in-Charge Conor Washington, Social Security Administration/Office of the Inspector General, Eastern Cooperative Disability Investigations Division for their work on this investigation.

The case was investigated for OAG by Detective William Fitzgerald and Detective Joseph Buffolino. The Investigations Bureau is supervised by Deputy Chief Walter Lynch and Chief Juanita Bright and led by Chief Oliver Pu-Folkes.

Assistant Attorney General Abigail Margulies is handling the prosecution in this matter, under the supervision of Public Integrity Bureau Chief Gerard Murphy and Deputy Bureau Chief Kiran Heer, with assistance from Senior Analyst Crystal Bisbano. Both the Investigations Bureau and the Public Integrity Bureau are part of the Division for Criminal Justice. The Division for Criminal Justice is led by Chief Deputy Attorney General José Maldonado and overseen by First Deputy Attorney General Jennifer Levy.