Nassau Couple Fraudulently Obtained $12K In COVID Rent Help: DA

MINEOLA, NY — A Hicksville couple has been charged with fraud after prosecutors said they fraudulently obtained thousands of dollars in rental assistance through a COVID-19 relief program.

Michael Arbassio, 65, and Eileen Dantini, 61, were charged with third-degree grand larceny and first-degree offering a false instrument for filing, the Nassau County district attorney's office said Thursday. Both pleaded not guilty and were released on their own recognizance.

They are scheduled to appear in court next week. If convicted, they could face up to seven years in prison.

COVID relief programs were implemented to help those in need during the pandemic, which left many Nassau residents with financial troubles, said Anne Donnelly, the district attorney.

"The defendants took advantage of these programs, allegedly stealing more than $12,000 in rental assistance funds by submitting fraudulent paperwork claiming the couple were in a landlord-tenant agreement," Donnelly said in a news release. "NCDA will continue to protect precious public resources for residents who need them most and ensure individuals who take advantage of these programs are prosecuted."

Arbassio and Dantini were tenants in a Hicksville home for about a decade and paid rent to a landlord. On Sept. 29, 2021, Arbassio submitted an electronic tenant application to the Oyster Bay Emergency Rental Assistance Program, prosecutors said. The program, administered by the Long Island Housing Partnership, aimed to help residents facing pandemic-related housing difficulties using federal money.

Arbassio's application falsely said Dantini was his landlord and that he owed her rent, proseuctors said. The couple also submitted additional phony papers, including a fake lease agreement and a rental arrears affidavit signed by Dantini, prosecutors said.

Between Dec. 19, 2021, and Jan. 19, 2022, Arbassio and Dantini received $12,800 in rental help.

Then in April 2022, Arbassio submitted another application claiming to be in arrears again on rent, and provided the same fraudulent information, the district attorney's office alleged. After receiving the second application, program workers searched property records and learned someone else owned the home — not Dantini, prosecutors said. The program asked for proof of their rental agreement, which wasn't provided, and Arbassio was declared ineligible for further rental relief money in July of that year, Donnelly's office said.

The Town of Oyster Bay and the program conducted an internal investigation, identified the potentially bogus application, and referred the case to the district attorney's office in August 2022.

Arbassio and Dantini surrendered Wednesday.