Eight city workers swept up in the Manhattan DA’s massive Social Security fraud probe had their cases tossed Thursday — because it turned out they really were sick.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Daniel Fitzgerald dismissed and sealed the cases against the eight because prosecutors charged them without gathering the evidence that showed they were indeed ill.
A former garbage collector for the city, Nicholas Secchi relied upon a cane as he limped into court with his attorney, Alexander R. Klein, of Barket Epstein Kearon Aldea & LoTurco, LLP.
“This was a broad-based and public indictment in which the District Attorney’s Office swept up an extremely large number of former city workers. Unfortunately, when you cast this wide a net, you catch not only those who broke the law but also others who did nothing wrong,” said Klein. “Mr. Secchi never should have been charged in the first place and today’s dismissal should have come with an apology from the Manhattan DA as well.”
By contrast, 87 other defendants have pleaded guilty in the case, and a total of 36 cases are still going forward.
