Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Jr., today announced the indictment of CHARLENE BUDREAU, 45, for allegedly stealing $187,913 in pension death benefits intended for her stepdaughter by filing falsified paperwork. BUDREAU is charged in a New York State Supreme Court indictment with Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in the Second Degree, Identity Theft in the First Degree, and Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree. [1]     

“A conductor for New York City Transit saved over the course of his career, intending for his daughter to inherit his hard-earned pension,” said District Attorney Bragg. “Instead, we allege, after he passed, his wife stole the pension death benefits that should have gone to her stepdaughter. City employees work too hard for their retirement savings to be drained through theft, and I thank the New York City Department of Investigation for its partnership combatting fraud.”

DOI Commissioner Nadia I. Shihata said, “As charged, this defendant allegedly stole a nearly $188,000 lump sum pension payment intended for her stepdaughter, depositing the funds into a checking account. Municipal employees work their whole lives for a pension to help support them in their retirement, and their beneficiaries after their death; stealing those precious funds is a crime. I thank NYCERS for reporting this fraud to DOI and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office for their partnership in safeguarding the City’s pension system.”

As alleged in court documents and statements made on the record, beginning in April 2020, BUDREAU fraudulently submitted forms to the New York City Employees’ Retirement System (“NYCERS”) purportedly signed by her stepdaughter to obtain a lump sum pension death benefit check for $187,913.72, which she deposited in her own Citibank checking account in May 2021. Her then-teenage stepdaughter was entitled to the entirety of the NYCERS lump sum pension death benefit after the death of her father – a Conductor with New York City Transit – not BUDREAU.

Assistant D.A.s Imran Ahmed (Senior Investigative Counsel) and John Dunn are handling the prosecution of the case under the supervision of Assistant D.A. Christine Payne (Deputy Chief of the Major Economic Crimes Bureau) and Michael Ohm (Chief of the Major Economic Crimes Bureau), and Executive Assistant D.A. Jodie Kane (Chief of the Investigation Division). Detectives John Munari and Kimberly Robledo assisted with the investigation under the supervision of Chief Investigator Jonathan Reid.

District Attorney Bragg thanked the NYC Department of Investigation for its work on the matter, including Confidential Investigator Wendy Huang, Auditor Yanyan Wang, Assistant Inspector General Jeffrey Freeman, Deputy Inspector General Aleksandro Tilka, and Inspector General Ann Petterson. 

Defendant Information

CHARLENE BUDREAU

Bloomfield, NJ

Charges:

• Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, a class C felony, one count
• Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in the Second Degree, a class C felony, one count
• Identity Theft in the First Degree, a class D felony, two counts
• Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree, a class D felony, one count

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[1] The charges contained in the indictment are merely allegations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. All factual recitations are derived from documents filed in court and statements made on the record in court.