Adding insult to injury, a man charged with pilfering $2.5 million in federal funds was derided by neighbors Saturday as a cheapskate - even as he nursed a broken shoulder.
Ziming Shen, 52, was injured during a bizarre rampage against photographers outside a Brooklyn courthouse - leading to his arrest shortly after posting $750,000 bond in the theft case.
As Shen flailed wildly at the shutterbugs, his arm hooked on a camera strap - sending him sprawling to the ground with a photographer landing on top of him, police said.
Shen was treated for the right shoulder injury at Methodist Hospital, and then returned to the police for another tour of the criminal justice system.
He was awaiting arraignment yesterday on charges tied to his blocks-long battle with the photographers - including one who suffered a bloody nose.
His co-defendant wife, who bolted from Brooklyn as her husband was handcuffed Friday, had nothing to say yesterday. "I'm sorry, I have no comment on this," Joanna Fan told the Daily News.
On Staten Island, where Shen and Fan own a pair of pricey rental properties, neighbors recalled their trouble in tracking down the pair to kick in $400 for snow removal and upkeep on their block.
"It was ridiculous," said one neighbor. "They were penny-pinchers."
The couple is accused of looting federal free-lunch funds through their Red Apple Child Development Center, a purported nonprofit organization.
Prosecutors said the pair created bogus students and billed the feds for their meals, then used the ill-gotten gains to cover their tax bills and buy property.
Red Apple Child Development had a history of questionable dealings, losing city contracts for three years after one of its executives reportedly tried to bribe a city inspector in 2001.
Joanna Fan made a $500 campaign contribution to then-City Council member John Liu in 2004 - but the now-city comtroller returned the money. Since then, "no money has been accepted from anyone at this company," said Liu spokesman Matthew Sweeney.
The company was also denied a pair of Department of Education contracts in 2010 because of "ethical concerns about the vendor," Sweeney said.
Red Apple has no current contracts with the city.
Defense lawyer Barry Agulnick, who left the Brooklyn courthouse before his client's Friday outburst, said he was stunned by the second arrest.
"He was not looking for any confrontation," said Agulnick. "He just wanted to leave and go home with his family."
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