Dutchess County Recycler Accused Of Workers' Comp Fraud

NEW YORK, NY (01/11/2010)(readMedia)-- A Dutchess county man who accepted $47,900 in workers' compensation benefits while claiming a job-related injury left him unable to work was arrested Thursday after it was learned that he was operating a scrap metal recycling business.

The New York State Insurance Department reported that Bruce Wilcoxx, 49, of Mechanic Street, Amenia, was arrested following an investigation by the Insurance Department's Frauds Bureau.

Wilcoxx is accused of collecting benefits from the New York Insurance Fund while claiming that he was not engaged in work of any kind. However, investigators found that he operated a recycling business between June 2005 and November 2009.

State police at Dover Plains arrested Wilcoxx following a joint investigation by the Frauds Bureau, the Insurance Fund and the Inspector General's Office of the Workers' Compensation Board.

Wilcoxx was charged with third degree insurance fraud and workers' compensation fraud. He could be sentenced to up to seven years in prison if convicted. He was released in his own recognizance following his arraignment before Town Justice Wrem Abrams. A hearing is scheduled to be conducted Tuesday.

The case is being prosecuted by William Andrews of the Insurance Department, who will serve as a special prosecutor for the office of District Attorney William V. Grady.

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