Screen Shot 2015-06-26 at 1.00.35 AM.png

New York City Human Resources Administration's office at 201 Bay Street. (Google map)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- He robbed from the public and gave to his pal, authorities allege.

An employee with the New York City Human Resources Administration's office on Staten Island is accused of fraudulently issuing more than $90,000 in taxpayer money to a friend, the city's Department of Investigation revealed on Thursday.

The duo were arrested as part of two separate DOI investigations into HRA for various welfare schemes which resulted in more than half a million dollars in stolen public funds.

According to investigators, Peter Ransome, 60, of Brooklyn, a clerk at the HRA office located at 201 Bay St. in Tompkinsville, improperly used another employee's ID to distribute $90,000 in stolen funds to a friend, Jenneha Cooper, 26, of West Brighton, prosecutors allege.

Cooper then shared those funds with Ransome, court papers allege.

Prosecutors allege that between March 1, 2012 and September 30, 2013, Ransome dispersed multiple welfare benefits to Cooper's EBT card after HRA had already closed her case on February 12, 2012.

Acting District Attorney Daniel Master, whose office is prosecuting the case, said the employee "abused his authority and helped line his and an accomplice's pockets with monies earmarked for Staten Island's neediest residents."

"The accomplice is accused of not only receiving funds to which she wasn't entitled, but she also gave her HRA cohort a kickback for his role in the scheme," Master said.

Cooper allegedly admitted to her role in the scheme, telling investigators, "I messed up big time, I admit it. I made a mistake. I did know the money wasn't mine legitimately," she's quoted as saying in court papers.

In addition to Ransome and Cooper, nine individuals were arrested Thursday in separate public assistance fraud investigations.

In one case, HRA employee, Harry Fletcher, 44, of the Bronx, is accused of issuing over $250,000 in food stamp benefits.

The DOI launched the investigations into HRA after the agency reported suspicious activity to DOI.

"City workers who steal public funds undercut the effectiveness of government and its ability to help some of the neediest New Yorkers. This is fraud at its most shameful," DOI Commissioner Mark G. Peters said.

Ransome, who worked for HRA beginning in July 1989 and received an annual salary of approximately $32,962, resigned in March 2014 as a result of the investigation, according to the DOI press release.

He is charged with second-degree welfare fraud and second-degree grand larceny, both class C felonies. He faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

Cooper is charged with third-degree grand larceny and third-degree welfare fraud, both class D felonies. She faces up to seven years in prison if convicted.