A Vassar College marketing consultant ripped off $25,000 by claiming her estranged husband was killed in the World Trade Center attacks.
Diana Diaz, a 34-year-old mother of two, pleaded guilty yesterday in Manhattan federal court to embezzling $7,332 in death benefits from Social Security.
As part of a plea bargain, Diaz, who is employed by the prestigious Poughkeepsie college, agreed to also repay additional money she fraudulently received from the Red Cross and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
She told the court her husband had walked out on her and their two children, ages 7 and 3, two weeks before Sept. 11.
“It was an extremely difficult and confusing time for me, but this does not excuse me,” she said. “I am truly sorry for the trouble I caused the government and, especially, the Red Cross.”
She faces up to 10 years in jail.