According to Elisha Fieldtadt of NBC News, 23-year-old Ajani Shawn of Staten Island, New York was arrested and charged late last month for allegedly submitting months’ worth of fake positive Covid-19 tests to collect workers’ compensation benefits.
A statement made by the Office of New York State Inspector General, Lucy Lang, indicating that Shaw submitted a claim for workers’ compensation benefits in April of 2020 after exposure to Covid-19 at his part-time position in a nursing home kitchen. The claim included a positive Covid test, as well as a doctor’s note to stay home. He then was approved for benefits of $150 per week.
Through August of 2020, Shaw submitted a total of seven additional “positive” Covid-19 tests and two additional doctor’s notes to stay home.
Fieldtadt writes, “‘The carrier continued to pay benefits to Shaw through July 24, 2020, when the carrier noticed that many of the positive test results used the same specimen ID,’ the statement said. He was paid more than $1,700 in workers compensation benefits.”
The investigators were able to determine that two of the positive Covid-19 tests were, in fact, real, as well as two doctor’s notes. The rest of the tests and doctor’s notes were fraudulent.
Shaw has officially been charged with “one county of grand larceny, one count of insurance fraud and seven counts each of forgery, falsifying business records and workers’ compensation fraudulent practices.”