Fraud of the Week

December 12, 2016

Workers Compensation Fraud—New York

Amount: $75,000

 

A New York logger was indicted for stealing more than $75,000 in workers compensation benefits, and was charged with grand larceny, insurance fraud, and offering a false instrument for filing. He was also charged with the workers compensation crime of failure to secure compensation.

 

The logger claimed to be 100 percent disabled but earned over $150,000 in income through manual labor, such as climbing up and down trees and wielding chainsaws. He was injured in 2013 while working for a construction firm and informed the state Workers Compensation Board that he was not working while he was operating and working for his own company.

 

He also failed to provide the necessary workers compensation coverage for the people he employed at his logging company. Effectively the logger was taking money directly from the state Workers Compensation Board while taking indirectly by not paying for workers compensation coverage for his employees. The logger is scheduled to appear in court on February 14, 2017.