Start of Crackdown
Allege 10 Ripped Off 'Comp' Board

By GINGER ADAMS OTIS

Three high-ranking officials from the State Workers' Compensation Board joined Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown Jan. 25 in announcing fraud charges against 10 individuals accused of stealing more than $110,000 from the state.

GOVERNOR SPITZER: Presses for a cleanup.

The charges were the result of a seven-month joint investigation by the Queens District Attorney's Economic Crimes Bureau, the State Insurance Fund, the State Insurance Department's Insurance Frauds Bureau, and the Inspector General's Office of the State Workers' Compensation Board.

Won't Curtail Benefits

Workers' Compensation Chair Donna Ferrara said the crackdown on fraud hadn't lessened the board's commitment to ensuring that "those who deserve benefits continue to receive them."

The announcement came just three weeks after Governor Spitzer called reforming the Workers' Compensation system one of his major goals.

Branding it a system that failed the people who used it and those who paid for it, the Governor said he'd already commenced discussions with the State Legislature and business and labor representatives on how "to arrive at a solution that will lower employer premiums, while increasing worker benefits for the first time since 1992."

KEN BRYNIEN: 'Noncompliance rampant.'

His statements were welcomed by leaders of the Public Employees' Federation, who cited a study released two weeks ago by the Fiscal Policy Institute that said the Workers' Compensation system is cheated out of as much as $1 billion a year in required insurance premiums.

The fraud occurs when employers fail to pay premiums or misclassify the number or type of employees who work for them, the study said.

PEF President Ken Brynien in a written statement stressed that increased resources and staff to better monitor employer compliance was a crucial first step toward reform.

"Noncompliance is rampant. According to the State Insurance Fund, 200 auditors uncovered additional revenues that amounted to $493,000 per auditor," he noted. "New York could cut Workers' Compensation costs and have more control over the system by adopting models used in other states where SIF is the sole provider of insurance."

Among those arrested by the Queens DA were a former city worker, several private-sector workers, and various business owners and managers.

Giorlano Vicari, a former Painter for the Housing Authority, was one of the public employees caught in the crackdown. Mr. Vicari began receiving Workers' Compensation benefits in February 1983 after being injured on the job. More than 20 years later, he allegedly obtained employment in the construction industry, but when he filed his work activity forms with the Workers' Compensation Board, he failed to note the change in his work status as the law requires. Mr. Vicari is accused of unlawfully receiving $19,365 in Workers' Compensation and medical benefits from 2003 to 2005.

Phony Certificate

Also arrested was Joseph Ambrosino, the owner of Joe's Flooring Corp. in Queens Village. Mr. Ambrosino allegedly presented a forged Workers' Compensation insurance certificate to a general contractor in January 2005 in order to obtain work installing floors as an independent subcontractor. It was later discovered that the defendant had no Workers' Compensation insurance policy to do business.

The 10 defendants have been variously charged with third- and fourth-degree grand larceny, third-degree insurance fraud, first-degree falsifying business records, first-degree offering a false instrument for filing, second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, and violation of Sections 114(1) and 96(1) of the Workers' Compensation Law.

They were arraigned late last week in Queens Criminal Court. If convicted, the 10 defendants are facing anywhere from two to seven years in prison.