Postal Employee Found Guilty of Work Comp Fraud
Amancio Zamora Agcaoili, Jr, a former postal worker in Anchorage, Alaska, has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison and fined nearly $400,000 after pleading guilty to 10 counts of federal workers’ compensation fraud. Federal officials also seized nearly $15,000 in cash from his home.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Anchorage, Agcaoili collected both federal worker’s compensation and Social Security disability insurance benefits between 2009 and 2014, after alleging that he had suffered a back injury on the job. Acting U.S. Attorney Kevin R. Fields said that Agcaoili continually misrepresented the extent of his injury, alleging that it prevented him from working. During the same time period, though, Agcaoili led “an active recreational lifestyle,” going fishing and dip-netting, dancing and sledding. Evidence showed that he took trips to Hawaii, Canada and the Philippines, and that he was working other jobs and earning other income while receiving workers’ compensation and disability benefits.
Fields said that Agcaoili submitted false documentation to the federal government every year, alleging that he had not earned any income from other sources. Evidence indicated that he had regularly prepared hundreds of tax returns and immigration paperwork for others, and had been paid for those services. Fields also indicated that Agcaoili would regularly use a cane when he went to see his doctor, but never used it otherwise.
Under federal law, persons receiving federal workers’ compensation benefits must disclose all other sources of income. The same rule applies to recipients of Social Security disability benefits. Prosecutors say that Agcaoli unlawfully failed to disclose the Social Security disability payments to the Department of Labor, and did not report the workers’ compensation benefits to the Social Security Administration.
Contact Uliase & Uliase
For an appointment with an experienced New Jersey federal workers’ compensation lawyer, contact us online or call our office at (856) 310-9002. We meet with clients weekdays between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. We offer a free consultation for injured workers.
