According to WorkersCompensation.com, 44-year-old Christopher S. Cassese of Bergenfield, NJ has been arrested and charged with insurance fraud and theft by deception following an investigation conducted by the United States Postal Service Office of the Inspector General and the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office White Collar Crimes Unit.
The United States Postal Service Office of the Inspector General (OIG) had been engaged in an ongoing investigation on Cassese, which identified that while out on injury leave, he had been working at this own pest control business (Semper Fi Pest Control LLC), as well as collecting compensation which had amassed to over $20,000. OIG informed the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office White Collar Crimes Unit (BCPO) of their findings in December of 2015.
Both the OIG and BCPO continued their investigation to reveal that Cassese omitted disclosure of the pest control business to both the US Postal Service and the US Department of Labor altogether.
According to WorkersCompensation.com, “While on injury leave, Mr. Cassese was required to complete and sign US Postal and Department of Labor forms on which there was a question directly related to his injury status and any outside work being performed during the leave. Mr. Cassese completed more than ten of the forms indicating that he was not working in any other capacity while on leave. The labor performed in his role with Semper Fi Pest Control was also determined to be of a physical nature similar to the work conducted by Mr. Cassese for the Post Office; work he claimed that he was physically unable to complete.”
Yet another case of an “injured” worker collecting compensation, while owning and working for their side business!