Maryland Officer Charged in Workers’ Comp Fraud Case

A Montgomery County, Maryland, police officer has been charged with perjury and workers’ compensation fraud.

Gilbert Payne was charged Tuesday in Baltimore City Circuit Court.

The 40-year-old Payne didn’t respond to a message seeking comment at his home Tuesday.

Maryland’s state prosecutor’s office says Payne left the Baltimore Police Department in 2007 on a full disability pension. They say he testified under oath in a 2008 workers’ compensation hearing that he was unemployed and hadn’t been employed since he retired from the department.

Prosecutors say, in fact, Payne was working as a Towson University police officer. As a result, prosecutors say Payne got more than $30,000 in workers’ compensation payments.

State Prosecutor Emmet Davitt says Payne’s actions are egregious because he was a police officer sworn to uphold the law.