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Connecticut State Trooper Arrested for Workers’ Compensation Fraud, Larceny

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squad-car-1209719_1920-300x162A state trooper in Connecticut was arrested last week for allegedly filing a fraudulent workers’ compensation claim and receiving over $45,000 in benefits he was not entitled to.

Kevin Moore, 41, of Moosup, CT, was charged with one count of fraudulent claim or receipt of benefits and one count of larceny in the first degree. He was released on a written promise to appear in court on July 30. It is unclear if he has acquired legal representation.

According to the arrest affidavit, Moore injured his back while working in July 2019. He was placed on temporary disability by his physician and received wage replacement benefits paid for by his employer’s workers’ compensation insurance provider. In Moore’s case, the state of Connecticut was paying his benefits while he was unable to perform any type of work because of his injury.

An investigator from Gallagher Bassett Investigative Services (GBIS) conducted surveillance on Moore from November 2019 to February 2020 to see if he was exceeding the limitations set for him by his doctor. The investigation revealed that Moore owned and was running a t-shirt screening business, Four82 Designs, which earned him an additional income while he was still receiving workers’ comp benefits.

Gallagher Bassett determined that from November 2019 to May 2020, Moore fraudulently received approximately $47,000 in benefits, and that led to his arrest last week.

Moore is scheduled to appear in Hartford court on July 30, 2020. His case is being handled by the state Workers’ Compensation Control Unit. The press release announcing his charges noted that the charges are merely accusations and that a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty through court proceedings.

Workers’ compensation insurance is a fund that pays for an injured worker’s medical expenses and a portion of their lost wages, as well as rehabilitation or in some cases death benefits for the worker’s family in the event of a workplace fatality.

In Connecticut, workers’ comp insurance provides wage replacement benefits and medical treatment for employees who become ill or are injured on the job. It prevents employers from bearing the costs of  workplace injuries, and compensates workers for their injuries and time off work. Connecticut has a no-fault workers’ comp system that provides benefits regardless of who is at fault for the illness or injury.

Almost every state requires employers to have some form of workers’ comp insurance. Making this type of insurance mandatory incentivizes businesses to keep their employees safe and reduces the risk of lawsuits against employers.

Employers suspected of committing workers’ compensation fraud should immediately consult an attorney. The consequences of a workers’ comp fraud conviction are severe, which is why it is imperative for anyone facing such a charge to first consult an attorney before speaking to any investigators or authorities.

South Florida Workers’ Comp Fraud Attorney

Are you a business owner accused of committing workers’ compensation fraud in South Florida? Contact Brian Silber, P.A. to set up a free initial consultation with one of South Florida’s most experienced workers’ compensation fraud attorneys.

Source: 7.23.20 Connecticut state trooper charged with workers’ comp fraud.pdf

Former Employees of Connecticut Healthcare Insurance Firm Charged in $17.9 Million Scheme to Defraud Client

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pexels-photo-48604-300x191The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced the arrest of four former employees of a Connecticut healthcare insurance firm accused of defrauding a client out of millions meant for healthcare claims.

The complaint names Patricia Riccardi, Anthony Riccardi, Erin Verespy, and Vanessa Battle, all of Connecticut, as defendants. They are each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of wire fraud. Attorney information was not available.

According to the complaint, the four defendants were managers and employees of a Wilton-based healthcare insurance service called Employee Benefits Solutions LLC (EBS), which provided healthcare insurance-related administrative services to companies that choose to “self fund” employee healthcare plans. EBS is responsible for administering, processing, and paying healthcare claims for its clients’ employees in exchange for an administrative fee.

The complaint alleges that between 2015 and 2019, EBS represented an automobile dealership based in Westchester County, New York. EBS sent the dealership “check register” invoices twice a month that listed all employee healthcare expenses. However, a majority of the checks the dealership paid to EBS were never actually sent to the healthcare providers.

EBS allegedly administered a bank account on behalf of the dealership to specifically pay for the company’s employee healthcare claims. The dealership funded all the check register invoices EBS sent to that account, expecting EBS to use the money to promptly pay the claims. Records show that from 2015 to 2019, the dealership transferred approximately $26 million to EBS.

An estimated $17.87 million in the dealership’s healthcare payments were misappropriated, according to the complaint. A majority of the funds were transferred by EBS into its operating account, where they were used for personal expenses by the defendants. Bank records reportedly revealed the Riccardis used the funds to pay their home mortgage expenses, as well as a personal credit card account with expenses relating to golf and boating.

The defendants allegedly took steps to conceal their alleged fraud from the dealership by creating and sending doctored bank statements and checks to make it look like the healthcare claims were being paid.  In January 2019, Anthony Riccardi allegedly sent several bank statements to the client that showed claims were being paid out by EBS. The statements hid the millions EBS had transferred into its operating account, the complaint alleges. Battle also purportedly forwarded the phony statements to an auditor for the dealership’s insurance underwriter.

“As alleged in the criminal complaint, the defendants abused their positions as administrators of client healthcare plans for years by creating false and inflated invoices and then misappropriating millions of dollars for their own uses,” said acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss. “As further alleged, the defendants sought to conceal this fraud by creating false bank statements and checks. Our office will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to expose and prosecute egregious fraud schemes.”

The case is being handled by the White Plains Division with Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas S. Bradley in charge of the prosecution. If convicted, the defendants face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for each count.

South Florida Fraud Defense Attorney

Are you accused of committing fraud in South Florida? Contact Brian Silber, P.A. to set up a free initial consultation with one of South Florida’s most experienced fraud defense attorneys.

Source: 7.20.20 Former employees of Connecticut insurance firm charged in $17 million fraud scheme.pdf

Two Dozen Connecticut Nail Salons Closed for Flouting Workers’ Compensation, Labor Laws

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people-2583493_1920-300x200The Connecticut Department of Labor has issued two dozen “Stop Work” orders to nail salons in the southwestern area of the state. After an investigation involving 39 nail salons, the department’s Division of Wage and Workplace Standards says the 24 affected businesses were in violation of labor laws.

Labor Commissioner Kurt Westby explained his department is now working with the salons, which are mostly in Fairfield County, to bring them into compliance with the law. The violations include misclassifying employees as independent contractors and failing to carry workers’ compensation coverage. Each salon could be fined up to $300 per employee for every day the business was not in compliance.

“We have done sweeps before, but not since 2015,” said Tom Wydra, director of the Division of Wage and Workplace Standards. “With the General Assembly in session and the topic out there, we felt it was time to do a more comprehensive sweep and see what it produced.”

Until this year, the Department of Labor argued it lacked the resources to carry out random inspections. Instead, the department relied on complaints from customers about individual businesses. During the 2015 sweep of nail salons, almost all were found to be in violation of labor laws.

In a report by Hearst Connecticut Media, employees, academics, and lawyers discussed just how widespread the violations of labor laws are in the nail salon industry. Estheticians and nail technicians are not required to receive training or be licensed in Connecticut—the only state without such requirements. Advocates for changing the law argue licensing these employees would help reduce abuses in an industry which employs many immigrants who may speak poor English and be unaware of their rights.

According to lawyer James Bhandary-Alexander of New Haven Legal Assistance, “I bring a lot of cases against employers for violating basic labor standards. Nail salons are notoriously not meeting those basic standards.”

Recently, I have reported on similar cases from across the country where business owners have misclassified workers, underreported payroll, or failed to obtain workers’ compensation insurance for their employees. In Ohio, the owner of Earth ’n Woods Products misclassified his truck drivers as office workers in order to reduce his workers’ compensation premiums. In New York, Parkside Construction allegedly underreported payroll to the tune of $42 million between 2014 and 2017 and, in so doing, avoided paying $7.8 million in workers compensation insurance.

About a dozen bills have been proposed in Connecticut since 2002 to regulate nail technicians and estheticians in the state, but almost none received a public hearing. The Department of Public Health opposes legislation, saying it does not have the resources to handle regulating the industry.

“In Connecticut, we tend to license things in a way that is punitive. We’re not interested in eliminating businesses. We’re interested in strengthening businesses,” said state Rep. Toni Walker (D-New Haven).

“Although we recognize the importance of keeping businesses open and employees on the job, our first responsibility is to ensure that workers are being paid correctly for the jobs that they do and proper protections are in place should they get injured while on the job,” countered Westby. “In promoting workplace compliance, we help create a level playing field so employers doing the right thing can remain competitive.”

Florida Workers’ Compensation Fraud Defense Attorney

If you are involved in a worker’s compensation fraud investigation, then you should hire a lawyer. Contact us to set up a free initial consultation and work with one of Florida’s most experienced workers’ compensation fraud defense attorneys.

Source

2019-03-08 Two Dozen CT Nail Salons Close for Labor Violations