New York City Employee Sentenced to Prison for Stealing $624,000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, September 17, 2025

New York City Employee Sentenced to Prison for Stealing $624,000

Defendant Worked as Associate Retirement Benefits Examiner at NYCERS,
Stole Pension Checks from Two Retired Individuals

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, together with New York City Department of Investigation Commissioner Jocelyn E. Strauber, today announced that a Brooklyn man has been sentenced to up to three years in prison for using his role as a NYCERS employee to steal approximately $624,000 in pension benefits.

District Attorney Gonzalez said, "This defendant shamelessly stole hundreds of thousands of dollars meant for hardworking New Yorkers who earned their pensions through years of dedicated service. By abusing his role at NYCERS, he betrayed the trust placed in him as a public employee, funding a luxury lifestyle with money that should have supported retirees. Today's prison sentence sends a strong message that public corruption will be met with serious consequences. I thank Commissioner Strauber and the Department of Investigation for their partnership and commitment to protecting the integrity of the City's pension system."

Commissioner Strauber said, "As an employee of NYCERS, this defendant's duty was to safeguard the City's pension system. Instead, he used his access to City workers' information and his knowledge of the system's vulnerabilities to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars. Today, he faces up to three years in prison as a result of his crimes, and we announce a series of recommendations to address the vulnerabilities that he exploited, in a report issued today. I thank the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office for its commitment to helping DOI protect pension funds of the largest municipal public employee retirement system in the United States."

The District Attorney identified the defendant as Gregory Mathieu, 41, of Canarsie, Brooklyn. He was sentenced to one to three years in prison today by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun. The defendant pleaded guilty to first-degree corrupting the government on April 30, 2025. A judgment order of restitution for $511,115.61 against the defendant was signed at the time of the plea. NYCERS was previously able to get back approximately $113,000 from the defendant.

The District Attorney said that between February 8, 2021 and January 2, 2024, the defendant stole approximately $624,000 from the New York City Employees' Retirement System (NYCERS), where he worked as an Associate Retirement Benefits Examiner.

The defendant reactivated suspended pension payments of a deceased Department of Sanitation supervisor, stealing retroactive payments of approximately $242,000 and monthly payments between May 2021 and January 2024 of approximately $5,700.

In addition, the defendant stole approximately $199,000 from a 75-year-old retired Associated Railroad Signal Specialist employed by the MTA/NYC Transit Authority.
According to the investigation, the defendant spent the stolen funds on luxury items including $2,500 for a pair of sneakers and a shirt at a Louis Vuitton store, $1,500 for a pair of sneakers at a Chanel store, $19,000 for vacation, and $429,000 in cash withdrawals.

Mathieu was employed by NYCERS for approximately 15 years. He agreed to resign effective May 30, 2025.

The case was investigated by DOI Confidential Investigator Farhana Begum with DOI's Office of the Inspector General for NYCERS and supervised by Assistant Inspector General Shakina Griffith, Assistant Inspector General Jeffrey Freeman, Deputy Inspector General Aleksandro Tilka, Inspector General Ann Petterson, Deputy Commissioner of Strategic Initiatives Christopher Ryan, and Deputy Commissioner/Chief of Investigations Dominick Zarrella.

Kings County Detective Investigators further assisted in the investigation.

The District Attorney thanked NYCERS' Fraud Unit for their assistance on the case.

The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Theresa Robitaille, of the District Attorney's Organized Crime and Racketeering Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Adam Libove, Deputy Chief of the Public Integrity Bureau, and Assistant District Attorney Laura Neubauer, Bureau Chief, and the overall supervision of Assistant District Attorney Michel Spanakos, Deputy Chief of the District Attorney's Investigations Division and Assistant District Attorney Patricia McNeill, Chief of the Investigations Division.

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