The arrests follow an investigation by the two agencies, the New York State Insurance Fund, New York State Police, the Inspector General for the Workers Compensation Fraud, several insurance companies, the U.S. Postal Inspector's Office and the National Insurance Crime Bureau. The cases involve the alleged theft of workers' compensation benefits, fraudulent claims to a medical insurance company, phony accident claims, and inflated burglary and false theft claims.
Every consumer pays the price when they take out a policy and pay the premium.
Under Governor Pataki's leadership we have devoted new resources to weed out fraud in worker's compensation cases. He claimed he was struck by a motor vehicle while directing traffic at a construction site and he filed a workers compensation claim. He submitted numerous documents claiming he was totally disabled and unable to work and that he testified under oath at a workers compensation hearing that he was not working. Despite his sworn statements to this effect, Craft was caught on videotape working as a scuba diver. The defendant testified under oath that he was unable to work and was not working.