A Baldwin woman was charged with allegedly falsifying income records and inaccurately reporting her employment in order to receive nearly $100,000 in day care benefits from the Nassau County Department of Social Services (NCDSS).
Shamika Brown applied to the Nassau County Department of Social Services in May 2019 to subsidize day care expenses for her three children. She allegedly stated in her application that her annual income of $25,000 came from her employment at a business called Hair Studio, located in Brooklyn. She also allegedly submitted an earnings statement from that business with an ADP Payroll Service logo and subsequently submitted similar earnings statements in conjunction with her recertifications in the three years that followed.
Brown’s application with NCDSS was processed and she received daycare benefit payments between June 2019 and June 2023.
A review of Brown’s benefits applications in March 2024 by NCDSS uncovered that she had excluded her employment by American Express, Amazon, and a consulting firm for the period she received benefits. Over the four-year period, the defendant made from $128,000 to as much as $319,000 in annual income.
A subsequent investigation into Brown’s employment by the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office found that the earnings statements she provided to NCDSS were allegedly fraudulent. The investigation further found no record of Hair Studio being an ADP client or legitimate business, and the address listed on the defendant’s purported earnings statements submitted to NCDSS belonged to another salon business for which Brown never worked.
The income Brown received from her actual employment exceeded the income threshold that would have entitled her to be considered for childcare benefits. As a result of her failure to accurately report her earned income, Brown was overpaid daycare benefits of $99,687.
Brown surrendered to NCDA investigators on October 1, 2025. Shamika Brown, 43, was arraigned on October 1, 2025, before Judge Ryan Cronin on charges of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree and Welfare Fraud in the Second Degree (both Class C felonies) and five counts of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree (all Class E felonies). She pleaded not guilty and was released on her own recognizance.
She is due back in court on October 9, 2025. If convicted, she faces up to 5 to 15 years in prison.
“Nassau County’s social services benefits exist to help families who truly need financial support, not high-earning residents who dishonestly try to offset their childcare costs,” said Nassau DA Anne Donnelly. “Shamika Brown allegedly excluded hundreds of thousands of dollars of income she earned over a four-year period and made up a business where she claimed to be employed, stealing taxpayer dollars and undermining a system designed to help support parents and children in the process. My office remains committed to holding defendants accountable who cheat public programs meant to serve vulnerable community members.”