City Councilman Charged With Stealing $7K in Unemployment Benefits

Long Beach City Councilman Michael Fagen was arrested and charged on Tuesday morning with stealing more than $7,000 in unemployment compensation.

According to Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice, Fagen, 54, who was elected to the City Council in 2009, concealed from the state labor department his employment as an elected city official.

D.A. Investigators charged Fagen with third-degree grand larceny, and he faces up to seven years in prison, if convicted. Fagan was arraigned at First District Court in Hempstead on Tuesday.

Rice said Fagan began receiving $405 per week in unemployment insurance benefits from the New York State Department of Labor on September 12, 2009. In November 2009, Fagen was elected to a four-year term as a city councilman and began receiving an annual salary of $19,828 once he was inaugurated in January 2010.

Rice said Fagen failed to disclose his government employment to the DOL and continued to receive undeserved unemployment benefits totaling $7,108, and that after his inauguration he falsely certified to the DOL every week that he was unemployed.

“This defendant was elected to represent his community and then stole taxpayer money,” Rice said in a statement. “This is not just a violation of the law, but a violation of the trust placed in him by the people of Long Beach.”

Both the D.A.'s Office and the New York State Department of Labor’s Office of Special Investigations collaborated on the investigation in this case after being notified by the City of Long Beach.

Fagen is represented by attorney Frederick Brewington in Hempstead, who was unavailable for comment on Tuesday morning and afternoon.