New York police arrested 13 people in a series of investigations targeting workers’ compensation fraud around the Empire State.
In several cases, the arrests targeted individuals accused of improperly collecting benefits while working side jobs.
One of the investigations resulted yielded three arrests: Hattie Twitty, 61, of Albany, who is charged with falsely claiming she received home health care from Michelle Simpson, 39, and Harold Miller, 38, who is Twitty’s son. An investigation found that the care could never have been provided because Miller was in jail and Simpson was working at a nursing home when the care purportedly occurred.
Among the other arrests are an Albany county arborist accused of falsely claiming injuries from a tree fall; a Binghamton man who collected temporary total disability benefits while he was employed selling gold, jewelry and household items and also performing excavation work and a Steuben county woman who accused of fraudulently collecting $10,000 while running a ceramic supply store.
Referrals leading to the investigations came from the New York State Insurance Fund, Ace, Travelers Insurance Company, First Cardinal and Hanaford Insurance Co.
Last year, the Insurance Department’s Frauds Bureau received 1,352 reports of suspected workers’ comp fraud and conducted investigations leading to the arrests of 119 New Yorkers for workers’ compensation-related criminal offenses.
The 13 recent arrests resulted in a range of charges which, in the event of convictions, could lead to sentences of up to seven years in prison.
Topics New York Fraud Workers' Compensation
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