Nadia I. Shihata, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Investigation (“DOI”), and Lucy Lang, Inspector General for the State of New York, issued the following statement on today’s sentencing of a former City Department of Correction (“DOC”) Officer on a charge of making a false statement in connection with his workers’ compensation claim relating to an alleged incident at a DOC facility. U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York sentenced JOVANNY CONCEPCION, 34, of Ronkonkoma, N.Y. to two years’ probation, with the first eight months to be served on home detention, and 300 hours of community service. CONCEPCION agreed to pay forfeiture in the amount of $232,427, which represents proceeds from the commission of the offense, and restitution in the amount of $232,427. DOI began its investigation after receiving reports from several City agencies, including the City Law Department, about excessive workers’ compensation claims involving City correction officers. DOI investigated this matter with the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, which is prosecuting this case, and the office of the New York State Inspector General.
DOI Commissioner Nadia I. Shihata said, “This now former City Correction Officer used his position as a law enforcement officer to fraudulently obtain hundreds of thousands of dollars in workers’ compensation benefits, including by fabricating his injuries following use-of-force incidents. Today’s sentencing underscores that lying to the City of New York to falsely obtain public funds has serious criminal consequences. I thank the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the New York State Inspector General’s Office for their partnership in protecting these critical taxpayer funds.”
New York State Inspector General Lucy Lang said, "Correction officers are entrusted with significant authority and a responsibility to exercise it with integrity. By fraudulently collecting more than $200,000 in workers’ compensation benefits, this former correction officer betrayed that trust, abused public resources, and undermined a system meant to protect workers who are legitimately injured on the job. Today’s sentence, including full restitution, holds him accountable for that misconduct and ensures those funds are returned. We thank our partners at the New York City Department of Investigation and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York for their continued partnership in protecting the integrity of New York’s workers’ compensation system."
According to the Indictment, plea agreement, and statements made in court: the New York State Worker’s Compensation Board (the “Board”) administers New York State’s no-fault workers’ compensation system, which guarantees medical care and cash benefits to people who are injured at work, including employees of the DOC. Payments by the Board made to DOC employees are paid from the New York City Treasury. For years, CONCEPCION was employed by the DOC as a correction officer and was assigned to work at Rikers Island. During that time, CONCEPCION falsely claimed that he was injured while on duty at Rikers Island during incidents with incarcerated individuals requiring the use of force, and made false statements to the Board, their own physicians, and independent medical examiners claiming these fake injuries. In total, CONCEPCION received at least $232,427 in benefits to which he was not entitled.
To reduce the risk of future fraud, DOI issued a May 2025 report in connection with this investigation, and recommended reforms to the DOC and the New York City Law Department’s policies and procedures.
CONCEPCION began his employment at DOC in June 2017 and at the time of his resignation in April 2021, CONCEPCION was receiving an annual salary of approximately $60,355.
Commissioner Shihata thanked Jamie McDonald, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, for his office’s partnership on this case, which is being prosecuted by the office’s Criminal Civil Rights Unit and the Public Corruption Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kaiya Arroyo and Stephanie Simon are in charge of the prosecution.
Commissioner Shihata also thanked New York State Inspector General Lucy Lang for her office’s partnership, including Investigators Lisa Lingenfelter and Zoë Swenson, Attorney-in-Charge of Gaming Matters Rachel Brown, and Attorney-in-Charge for Workers’ Compensation Fraud Bryan Richmond, under the supervision of Downstate Chief of Investigations Ben Defibaugh, New York City Deputy Inspector General Ken Michaels, and Chief Deputy Inspector General Michele Bayer. Additionally, Commissioner Shihata thanked the New York City agencies that reported these matters to DOI, including the City Law Department.
At DOI, the case was investigated by Assistant Inspector General Gina Diaz, Deputy Inspector General Trenton Sweeney, and Assistant Inspector General Jeffrey Freeman of DOI’s Office of the Inspector General for the Law Department, under the supervision of Deputy Commissioner for Legal Affairs and General Counsel Andrew Sein, Deputy Commissioner/Chief of Investigations Michael P. Mullahy, and Acting First Deputy Commissioner Christopher Ryan.
No comments:
Post a Comment