A $1 billion disability scam for retiring Long Island Rail Road workers was exposed Thursday with the arrest of 11 people, including a pair of crooked doctors. Hit the jump to read the rest of the story.
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Orthopedists Peter Ajemian and Peter Lesniewski recommended nearly 1,000 LIRR employees for illegal benefits between 1998-2009, turning their offices into “disability mills,” according to a criminal complaint.
Arrested along with the two physicians were Ajemian’s office manager, a former LIRR union president, a one-time official with the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) and a half-dozen ex-LIRR employees.
“The defendants and their co-conspirators participated in a massive fraud scheme in which LIRR workers who were ready to retire falsely claimed to be disabled,” federal authorities charged in a 74-page criminal complaint.
The arrests capped a three-year probe into the stunningly high approval rate of disability pensions for retiring LIRR employees.
The complaint charged that Ajemian recommended at least 734 LIRR workers for disability over the 11-year stretch, while Lesniewski approved 222 railroad employees.
In return, the doctors were typically paid between $800 and $1,200 cash, with the resulting extra benefits coming from the pockets of taxpayers.
The workers who double-dipped by collecting pensions from the LIRR and the RRB filed the bogus disability claims – and went on to become very active retirees, the complaint said.
– Retired LIRR engineering manager Gregory Noone collected a combined $105,000 with his disability pension. Despite his severe pain, he was a regular tennis player and a fixture on a local golf course, officials said.
– Ex-railroad human resources manager Sharon Falloon cited “disabling pain” in collecting her disability. But investigators spotted her in a step aerobics class, part of a two-hour workout.
– One-time LIRR sign operator Steven Gagliano completed a 400-mile bike tour in northern New York after filing a disability claim for “severe and disabling pain in back, shoulder and legs.”
