Benjamin Achampong, N.Y. health center worker, allegedly stole IDs from brain-injured patients for their tax refunds

(CBS/AP) HAUPPAUGE, N.Y. - Benjamin Achampong, the former manager of a nonprofit Long Island agency that helps people with brain injuries, is accused of stealing the IDs of more than 50 patients to get their tax refunds.

According to the New York Daily News, Achampong, 30, a former manager at the Head Injury Association, was indicted on 48-counts Monday, including grand larceny and identity theft. He is accused of collecting more than $20,000 in New York state tax refunds. 

Achampong also allegedly collected refunds in New Jersey and from the IRS.

Prosecutors say he used the refund money, which he allegedly had wired to numerous bank accounts, to buy a Range Rover and pay expenses and rent for "a number of girlfriends," reports the Daily News.

"Achampong would have a few refund checks sent to his residence, but more often he would have the tax refund electronically transferred to one of at least sixteen bank accounts he controlled," Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota said in a statement, according to CBS New York. "The investigation found that he used the identities of girlfriends and even his brother to open accounts in which to deposit the proceeds from his crimes."

Achampong pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Friday and is being held on $50,000 bail in the Suffolk County Jail.

The Daily News reports that Achampong had previously been in custody in Georgia, where he is facing charges of credit card fraud, forgery and ID theft, and was extradited to New York last week. He is also on probation in Nassau County, Long Island after pleading guilty in 2009 to stealing the identity of a dead man to obtain debit cards, reports the Daily News.

At a press conference, Spota said Achampong was "a shameless, incorrigible thief and forger."