Charge EMT Forged Sick Notes to Collect Pay for Absences
By ARI PAUL
An Emergency Medical Technician was arrested July 16 on charges of submitting false medical notes to the Fire Department in order to excuse absences from work.

ROSE GILL HEARN: No excuse for phony illnesses.

The Department of Investigation alleged that EMT Michael Russell, who has been with the FDNY since 2000, forged 15 medical notes for days off, and collecting more than $2,000 for days he did not work.

Mr. Russell, 27, was charged with 15 counts each of Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument, Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree and Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree. He was also charged with one count of Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree.

If convicted on all counts, Mr. Russell could serve up to 11 years in prison.

This is the fourth arrest of a city employee on charges of falsifying sick leave the DOI has made since June.

DOI Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn said in a statement, "Paid sick time is not an invitation for unscrupulous city employees to falsify medical notes and take extra time off on the taxpayer's dime."