Facebook Post Leads to Fraud Conviction

NEW YORK, NY (09/13/2010)(readMedia)-- An Ulster County woman whose Facebook posting led to her arrest and conviction for stealing $8,975 in workers' compensation benefits was sentenced Thursday to three years probation and ordered to make restitution.

Alexis Muniz, 28, of Accord, was sentenced in Sullivan County Court after pleading guilty to accepting workers' compensation while employed full-time at an apartment complex. She was sentenced on felony charges of grand larceny and workers' compensation fraud.

Muniz was arrested after investigators discovered a posting on her Facebook page where she boasted about her salary and job as an apartment complex manager. She was also accused of lying at a Workers' Compensation Board hearing when she testified that she was not working in any capacity while collecting benefits. She had been receiving the benefits for a job-related injury while working for a previous employer.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Joey Drillings. The case was prosecuted in Sullivan County because that was the site of the Workers' Compensation Board hearing.

The investigation was conducted by the New York State Insurance Department's Frauds Bureau, the New York State Insurance Fund Division of Confidential Investigations and state police at Liberty.

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