OCFS Employee Charged In Workers Comp Scam
Posted on Wednesday, 7 of May , 2008 at 6:45 pm
ALBANY—A state Office of Children and Family Services employee was arrested Wednesday in connection with a Workers’ Compensation scam the state Inspector General says netted him nearly $6,000.
Youth Division Aide Ronnie Wesley, 51, of Queens, was arraigned in Albany City Court on charges of defrauding the government and offering a false instrument for filing, both Class E felonies. Wesley claimed he was injured at work on Sept, 12, 2007, while riding in an elevator which, he initially said, dropped several floors, hurting his neck, back and legs. None of his fellow passengers filed injury claims.
Wesley claimed he was too disabled to work at his day job at OCFS’ Ella McQueen Residential Center in Brooklyn, where he sometimes must restrain persons in custody. Wesley also told the Workers’ Compensation Board that he had no other employment and did not perform any other work during his alleged disability.
However, Wesley allegedly continued to work a second, full-time clerk job at the U.S. Postal Service’s Processing and Delivery Center in Brooklyn, while receiving disability payments from the New York State Insurance Fund. During this time period, Wesley was paid $5,919 by the state.
In fact, the day Wesley was allegedly injured, Sept. 12, 2007, he worked a complete 11 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. shift, the Inspector General’s office said. He continued to work this second job — earning roughly $50,000 per year — without interruption for the next several months.
Wesley has been a postal employee since 1980. He filed the disability claim two months after OCFS denied his annual request to work a second job. His current OCFS salary is $44,000 per year. Wesley has been with OCFS since 1990. He was charged in Albany because that is the filing location of his Workers’ Compensation claim forms.
Wesley was arraigned before City Court Judge Rachel Kretser and released on his own recognizance. He is due back in court May 21. 5-07-08
Category: Courts, Crime, Government, New York State
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