A mother and son employed by the New York City Department of Education have been accused of scamming a Manhattan public school for students with disabilities out of nearly $8,500 according to a report by the Special Commissioner of Investigation for city schools.
Marlene Delgado, 62, a school secretary at PS M169, allegedly approved payments to her son Nicholas Koukaras, 36, a substitute paraprofessional, for 55 days when he did not sign in or show up to work. The report also states that Delgado credited her son with an extra 50 minutes on five days when he did sign in resulting in improper payments totaling $8,479.78.
“Koukaras knowingly received these improper payments – totaling $8,479.78 – for dates and times when he did not work,” the report to Chancellor David Banks states.
The investigation found that after the principal authorized Koukaras to fill in as a substitute aide for two weeks in September 2019, Delgado assigned her son to the school for another six months without the principal’s permission and entered time sheets for him into the DOE payroll system.
