Former Local Guilty of Scamming Disabled; Sentencing Monday

A former Port Jefferson Station resident and employee at the Long Island Head Injury Association pleaded guilty last month to nearly 50 felony charges and faces sentencing on Monday.

According to court records online, Benjamin Achampong pleaded guilty in December after being arrested last April, when he was extradited from Georgia – where he was facing 16 identity theft charges for reportedly using stolen credit cards – to face charges in Suffolk County Court.

Achampong stole the identity of individuals who were disabled with brain injuries to file false tax returns, and also cashed checks in their name.

Achampong pleaded guilty to the following:

• Identity theft, first degree: 2 counts
• Identity theft, second degree: 20 counts
• Offering a false instrument for filing, first degree: 20 counts
• Possession of a forged instrument, second degree: 4 counts
• Grand larceny, third degree: 1 count
• Attempted grand larceny, fourth degree: 1 count

All the charges beside attempted grand larceny are felonies.

Suffolk County Police said last year that their investigation into Achampong's activities – which occurred between 2006 and 2007 – lasted 14 months.

Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota called Achampong a "shameless, incorrigible thief and forger.” 

“The financial information included in the phony returns - bearing a patient’s name and social security number - was entirely false," said Spota. “The investigation found that he used the identities of girlfriends, and even his brother, to open accounts in which to deposit the proceeds from his crimes."

Suffolk County Judge James Hudson is handling Achampong's case.