Those who commit workers compensation fraud seem to forget that it oftentimes doesn’t go unnoticed, or unpunished. Often co-workers contact anonymouse tip lines to report the situation.
Take for example, surveillance videotape showing a man walking freely for nearly a mile and carrying a walker under his arm before he testified that a job-related injury left him unable to walk or stand unassisted. (WCxKit)
That evidence was part of the information investigators are using in a three-county New York sweep of suspects accused of workers comp fraud.
The suspect is one of seven people arrested. The others include a Rensselaer County woman who cashed checks intended for her deceased father-in-law, a Watervliet man accused of illegally collecting $60,500 and a Middletown business owner.
The arrests are the result of a series of criminal investigations by the New York State Insurance Department's Frauds Bureau and the Office of the Inspector General of the New York State Workers Compensation Board based on referrals from the New York State Insurance Fund (NYSIF).
Insurance Superintendent James Wrynn noted, "These arrests should serve as a warning to others who would steal from the system that there are effective procedures in place to detect workers compensation violations and bring offenders to justice."
The investigations leading to the arrests were prompted after irregularities were discovered during audits of workers comp claims by several of the individuals and routine reviews of workers comp certificates filed by two of the individuals who ran businesses. (WCxKit)
Four of the individuals are charged with workers comp fraud, a Class E felony and they could be sentenced to up to four years in prison if found guilty
Author Robert Elliott, executive vice president, Amaxx Risks Solutions, Inc. has worked successfully for 20 years with many industries to reduce Workers Compensation costs, including airlines, healthcare, printing/publishing, pharmaceuticals, retail, hospitality and manufacturing. Contact: [email protected] or 860-553-6604.
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Do not use this information without independent verification. All state laws vary. You should consult with your insurance broker or agent about workers comp issues.
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