Flatbush Daycare Operator Stole Over $50K In Child Services Funds

FLATBUSH, BROOKLYN — A man who operated three daycare centers in Flatbush has been convicted in connection with a scheme to steal more than $50,000 in funds from the New York City Administration for Children’s Services, the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office said.

Owen Larman, a 44-year-old man from Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, received city funds to operate a "bogus" daycare center and serve children who never attended one of his facilities, the D.A.'s office said.

He was convicted of second-degree grand larceny, third-degree bribery, 11 counts of second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument and 11 counts of first-degree offering a false instrument for filing and faces up to 15 years in prison because of the scheme.

"This defendant stole from the City, falsified documents and bribed a public employee – all inexcusable criminal acts under any circumstances," Acting District Attorney Gonzalez said in a press release.

"But in this case, the defendant not only broke the law to line his pockets – he did so while entrusted with the care and well-being of dozens of young children. I will not stand for anyone who compromises the safety of Brooklyn’s children in any way."

Larman opened three daycare centers under the name "Next to Home," prosecutors said, which were primarily paid by child service's vouchers for families who can't afford childcare.

One center, on Flatbush Avenue and Vanderveer Place, was "grossly overcrowded," holding 78 children in a space that was eventually re-permitted to allow just seven, the D.A.'s office said. After getting the new permit, Larman would "misrepresent" the number of kids at the facility by putting some kids in busses in the parking lot while inspections were taking place, the office said.

"The buses used by the centers were frequently overcrowded and unequipped to properly transport young children, at times with two to three infants sitting in one car seat and with older children holding infants when car seats were not available," the D.A.'s office said.

Larman applied for a permit at another location, on Kings Highway in East Flatbush, but never got a lease from the building's owner, the D.A.'s office said. He filed forms with child services to get payment for kids at the facility, but those kids were actually being taken care of at the overcrowded facility, the office said.

Some of those forms were for kids who weren't receiving services at all, the office said. And on the forms, Larman forged the signature of a former Next To Home" employee, according to the D.A.'s office.

All told, he made off with $51,667, the D.A.'s office said.

He was able to accomplish this in part, the D.A.'s office said, by bribing a child services employee to fax him payment forms for the "bogus" childcare center location. Those forms are usually mailed directly to the center, but he couldn't receive them by mail since he didn't operate out of the location, the D.A.'s office said.

That ACS employee cooperated with prosecutors and testified at Larman's trial.

Image: Patch file photo