A Long Island, N.Y. farm hand who said his knee hurt too much to go back to work turned up back at the farm – for a different employer – and then allegedly lied to the New York State Insurance Fund and the Workers’ Compensation Board about being gainfully employed. Kent Metz, a 58-year-old farm worker from Wainscott, N.Y., now faces felony charges of fraudulent practices in connection with violating the Workers’ Compensation Law. He was arrested Nov. 12, by Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota’s Insurance Crime Unit in a case involving fraud and estimated future savings of nearly $190,000.
Authorities said Metz reported a work-related knee injury in December 2005 while employed as a farm worker on the eastern end of Long Island. He allegedly returned to work on another Long Island farm in September 2007, but certified to NYSIF that he had not gone back work. He also allegedly falsely testified that he had not returned to work at a Workers’ Comp. Board hearing in Riverhead, N.Y., on Oct. 10, 2007.
Metz allegedly defrauded NYSIF of $4,760. As a result of his arrest, NYSIF estimated the potential future savings that would have been paid on his claim at $188,000.
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