Thomas Parkin - I Am My Mother

Thomas Parkin had a very dark secret to hide. And he managed to keep this secret hidden for six years until now.

I am sure most of you have watched the classic movie Psycho, where Norman Bates impersonates his dead mother.

Thomas Parkin is the real Norman Bates. He impersonated his dead mother for 6 years so that he could collect the benefit on behalf of her even after her death. According to news reports he has manage to collect around $117,00 in government benefits.

How could he manage to fool the authorities all these years? Could he have done it all alone? The answer is obviously no. Thomas Parkin had an accomplice, Mhilton Rimolo. Rimolo acted as Thomas Parkin’s nephew.



Irene Prusik passed away in 2003, but in April this year she appeared at the Department of Motor Vehicle in Brooklyn to renew her driving license. Parkin was pretty convincing during the whole incident with the help of his accomplice. He had on large sunglasses and scarf around his neck and his nephew Rimolo beside him.

“I am my mother” was what Parkin told the authorities during the time of his arrest because he held Irene Prusik during her last breath.

So how did Parkin manage to fool the authorities for such a long time? The scam started right after the death of his mother. He provided the funeral director with an invalid Social Security number and date of birth so that her death would not be registered in the government records.

His daring act made him $700 a month from the Social Security checks. He even had the audacity to pose as his mother to file for bankruptcy which earned him another $39,000 according to the authorities.

So how the authorities did finally discovered the scam? It all began when Prusik’s home was sold at a foreclosure. Parkin of course challenged the purchase and sued the new owner on his mother’s behalf so that he would not be evicted from his home. Eventually both sides contacted the district attorney and both played blame game of accusing each other of fraud. It was only then that the investigator found out that Prusik was actually dead. They found her tombstone in a local cemetery.

In order to capture Thomas Parkin in the act, the local authorities set up a meeting and played along with the two disputing parties. Parkin then showed for the interview wearing a red cardigan, lipstick, manicured nails and breathing through the oxygen tank. That is when the authorities knew that they had their scam artist caught in his act.


THOMAS PARKIN