New York Man Indicted for Workers’ Comp Insurance Fraud Scheme

A Bronx, New York, man has been indicted on grand larceny, insurance fraud and additional charges for falsely claiming he was fully disabled and unable to work at his state job so he could collect more than $35,000 in workers’ compensation.

“The defendant allegedly continued working an increased number of hours at his second job while collecting compensation for being unable to work for the state,” said Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark in a press release issued by his office. “He took advantage of a system in place that helps New Yorkers who truly need it, and now he will be held accountable.”

Clark said the defendant, James Garner, was arraigned before Bronx Supreme Court Justice Efrain Alvarado on third-degree grand larceny, third-degree insurance fraud, penalty for fraudulent practice, five counts of first-degree falsifying business records, five counts of second-degree falsifying business records, five counts of first-degree offering a false instrument for filing, and first-degree perjury. He is due back in court on February 22, 2022.

According to the investigation, between July 19, 2019, and July 31, 2020, the defendant allegedly defrauded New York State of workers’ compensation benefits of more than $35,000. Garner was a full-time employee at the Office of Mental Health at the New York City Children’s Center working as a mental health therapy aide. He was injured on the job in 2019.

For about a year, he claimed he was fully disabled and swore under oath he was not working. The investigation found he was able to work and was working increased hours at his part-time job.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Edward Siclari of the Public Integrity Bureau, under the supervision of Ilya Kharkover, Deputy Bureau Chief of the Public Integrity Bureau; Omer Wiczyk, Chief of the Public Integrity Bureau, and under the overall supervision of Denise Kodjo, Deputy Chief of Investigations Division, and Wanda PerezMaldonado, Chief of the Investigations Division. An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.

Source: Office of the District Attorney, Bronx County