Philadelphia police: Disabled victimized by theft scheme

[The Northerner]

PHILADELPHIA — The landlord of the apartment building at first thought a circuit breaker had tripped when he went to the basement on Saturday and found all the lights were out. Then he realized all six bulbs had been removed, and he heard dogs barking inside a boiler room, its door chained shut.

He removed the chain, stepped into the dank, foul-smelling room and lifted a pile of blankets. Several sets of human eyes stared back at him.

Turgut Gozleveli had stumbled upon four mentally disabled adults, all weak and malnourished, and one chained to the boiler.

He may have also stumbled upon a vast scheme—stretching from Philadelphia to Norfolk Va., and West Palm Beach, Fla.—to steal the Social Security disability

Read more: http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_19129532