A couple who set off a manhunt two years ago after grabbing their eight biological children from a Queens foster-care agency was charged yesterday with ripping off $116,000 in government aid.
Also charged was the children’s uncle.
The Department of Investigation said John Payne and his wife, Shanel Nadal, had swindled the city by claiming their kids were being cared for by relatives starting in January 2008.
Under city regulations, relatives — but not the parents themselves — can get paid for such services.
When the city removed the children in March 2009, the benefits kept flowing even though the care was being provided by foster parents and a foster-care agency.
The alleged scam went undetected until September 2011, when the couple snatched their kids from the Forestdale Foster Care Agency in Queens and fled to Pennsylvania.
Investigators said they discovered John Payne was listed as an “uncle” on the child-care application when he was actually the dad.
The real uncle, Thomas Payne, was also allegedly listed. But the hours he claimed overlapped with hours at his $77,105 job at the city Department of Environmental Protection, authorities said.
The kids, ages 2 to 12, are in foster care.