Posted on 01/07/2014 8:17:30 AM PST by Second Amendment First
Eighty retired New York City police officers and firefighters were charged on Tuesday in one of the largest Social Security disability frauds ever, a sprawling decades-long scheme in which false mental disability claims by as many as 1,000 people cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars, according to court papers.
Scores of those charged in the case essentially stole in plain sight, according to a 205-count indictment and a bail letter, collecting between $30,000 and $50,000 a year based on fabricated claims that they were completely incapacitated by serious psychiatric disorders. Many said that their actions in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks were responsible for their psychiatric conditions, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety or depression.
But their Facebook pages and other websites, according to the court papers, tell a starkly different story.
The bail letter includes photographs culled from the Internet that show one riding a jet ski and others working at jobs ranging from helicopter pilot to martial arts instructor. One is shown fishing off the coast of Costa Rica and another sitting astride a motorcycle, while another appeared in a television news story selling cannoli at the Feast of San Gennaro on Mulberry Street in Manhattan.
Indeed, prosecutors charge that they were coached by the scheme’s organizers to appear disheveled and disoriented during interviews, in which doctors initially evaluated their disability applications before finding them to be mentally disabled and incapable of any work whatsoever.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
The biggest scam is the ‘’carcinogenic chemicals’’ bit. Trust me, I worked in the construction industry in New York. Asbestos was phased out in the early sixties.
One: claw back the money even if they get tossed into the street.
Two: Put them in Rikers in the general population with a former law enforcement tag.
Three: Buy life insurance on them before step two for any recovery deficieny from step one.
Problem solved
and asbestos containing material is generally considered a problem only if it is friable and or disturbed?
I’ve been to a few social security disability hearings. It was not easy to get an award. If the hearing officer found that you could do any kind of work, no matter how menial (the most popular standard was to ask if the person could make change), then you were not eligible for disability. I went with a fellow who had had four failed back surgeries and he was turned down as ineligible. The hearing officer would get an opinion on the person’s medical condition and then a separate opinion on their vocational abilities. If the vocational expert said he could make change, the claim was denied. The hearings lasted about twenty minutes.
Our self-described heroic first responders!! They are union jackels.
Public servants, especially LE and fire, already get pretty good pay and massive bennies. The problem is greed, and letting it control their actions.
It was sarcasm.
Cheats and enablers both should be put away for many long years for defrauding the public.
“...there would have been asbestos all over the place.”
And it would take 30 years to notice if you had any cancer from it.
That said, there is lots of other nasty stuff that gets released in a structure fire. Not that that excuses what these people did. The leaders of the scheme should be hanged for treason; adding to the debt that will some day take down this nation.
I have no love for these people. But being mentally disabled does not exclude one from riding a motorcycle or going fishing.
I read a few years ago that people were being sent to doctors that had nothing to do with their disability. For instance, someone with back problems would be sent to a pediatrician. And so forth.
While I’m not a doctor-—I just play one around the neighborhood-—I’m willing to certify this bunch of geniuses as incurably nuts. Making a phony claim then shooting ones mouth off about it on facebook or anyplace else is lead-pipe-cinch evidence of being nuts-a-roni. And I will vote for a bond issue to make sure we have jail space to give these deadbeats a place to study up on how to live in a civilized world.
>> they were completely incapacitated by serious psychiatric disorders.
Then why were they hired in the first place???
we have these so called "civil" service boards who determine disability, and those boards are PACKED with union supporters.....
isn't the disability rate in California for cops like 80%
I think this happens in the military a lot and infact in all govt jobs....
I just have no respect for govt employees and a growing disrespect for most of those on "disability"......
we had one cop claim disability for "stress" and he won....the stress might have come from going to law school full time while practicing cop.....
outside of govt work I know the unions work full time to get their lakeys more money.....my fil who heated his whole house with a wood stove inside the house, plus also burned used car oil inside, plus ate smoked meats with lots of good carcinogens and who also smoked at one ti to his lungs OVER THE PHONE......resulted in a nice little check for my fil....probably some nice kickbacks for the dr and his staff...
So, did New York let them keep their guns?
If Joe Citizen were diagnosed with these maladies, would he be allowed to keep his firearms?
Are some animals way more equal than others?
You might not, or might, believe this but this particular thing has happened quite a lot.
UC work (undercover) is extremely stressful to begin with and using drugs, which many times is the reason one is UC, is a required part of the gig. Trying to "fit in" to the 'scene.' It makes for a very powerful combination and many succumb to addiction as a result.
I am NOT trying to justify any thing here - just offering an explanation for the occurrence.
====================================================
REFERENCE Who could forget the dumb accountants, mayor and council who ignored the $53 million stolen by the Dixon, Ill Comptroller? The dumb Mayor never figured out the Comptroller deposited govt funds into secret bank accounts? Probably b/c he was getting a cut of the millions?
Trying to explain how that much money could disappear unnoticed, the stupid Mayor said the muni struggled financially because "the state" was far behind on income tax disbursements.....(now there's a red flag is there ever was one).
NOTE The Comptroller lived a lavish millionaire's lifestyle on an $80,000 govt salary---which onlookers attributed to her success in the horse breeding industry (cackle).
=============================================
HOW INSIDERS STEAL Here's another astoundingly brazen larceny -- $5.7M was electronically emptied out of the coffers of Columbia Univ into an employee's bank account.
Now, several employees are on trial----accused of funneling the stolen millions into the Bank account of alleged mastermind George Castro, 49, in collusion w/ two workers in the university's accounts payable dept.
Accounts payable insiders allegedly altered a routing code and other info connected to payments slated to go from the university's medical center to an affiliate hospital. The money never reached its destination. "Within six weeks, over $5M meant for NY Presbyterian Hospital found it's way into the employee's Bank account," prosecutors said.
When nabbed, one university employee was carrying bags of money -- $200,000 in cash -- into his new $80,000 Audi as cops busted him outside his Bronx residence...he and his co-defendants had at that point thrown hundreds of thousands of stolen dollars into failed day trading investments.
One Columbia accounting dept insider pled guilty to grand larceny, hoping to avoid jail by testifying against the four defendants and his accounts payable co-conspirator.
SOURCE http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/columbia_thieves_argue_just_appeared_92qi6lln0jET37UTxcSjqI#ixzz216mFvb64
===================================================
Judge Judy was incensed about this---sending the videotape to Congress.
LATINO'S "JUST HERE FOR A BETTER LIFE" SCAM Seems this tax-sucking latino worked for Cali's San Bernardino County Dept of Corrections. He said he worked 9 mos and got 3 mos time off to be with his children---one of whom was college age.
JJ asked him how he supported himself those 3 mos----he said he collected UI.
Seems the Cali Dept of Corrections perpetuates the acam---they calculately "laid him off" and rehired him 3 mos later.
He had been doing that for nine years. falsifying govt docvuments to get UI tax dollars---AKA government fraud. Now when he was "laid off" to be with his children, he was traveling to be with his girlfriend---she was suing him for a $4000 loan---which was why they were in JJ's court.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.