N.Y. Woman Arrested in Work Comp Scam

Suffolk County, New York authorities arrested a 57-year-old woman on felony fraud charges after she allegedly lied to the New York State Insurance Fund about her son’s ties to her business.

Suffolk County DA Thomas Spota’s Office arrested Susan Accardi, of Medford and charged her with fraudulent practices for a violating of Section 114 of the Workers’ Comp. Law.

NYSIF Executive Director David Wehner said Accardi filed an application with NYSIF for workers’ comp. insurance for her business, Parking Lot Maintenance, in Medford, at the same address as that of a cancelled NYSIF policy for a company called Thermo Tech Industries.

Thermo Tech’s workers’ comp. policy had been cancelled by NYSIF for non-payment of an estimated $230,000 in premium. NYSIF’s Division of Confidential Investigations (DCI) learned that Accardi’s son, Michael Smith, is the owner of record on Thermo Tech’s cancelled policy.

NYSIF rejected Accardi’s application, initially citing a possible relationship to the cancelled policy at the same address, until Accardi submitted notarized statements to NYSIF denying that Michael Smith had any involvement in Parking Lot Maintenance.

NYSIF DCI found that Smith was listed on several documents as an officer in Parking Lot Maintenance Corp. NYSIF ultimately denied Accardi’s application. She was arrested for allegedly filing a false workers, comp. application and false supporting documents with NYSIF.