News from New York State Insurance Department

For more information contact: Ron Klug, 212-480-2285

Teacher Arrested For Fraudulently Collecting Benefits

NEW YORK, NY (06/16/2008; 1632)(readMedia)-- A 57-year-old Utica woman will be arraigned June 25 on charges that she fraudulently collected $52,983 in workers' compensation benefits while working as an elementary school reading teacher for the Utica City School District.

Mary M. Racich, of 2439 Oneida St., will be arraigned in Town of Salina Court for insurance fraud and offering a false instrument for filing. She was arrested Thursday by Investigator Thomas F. Hurley Jr. of the New York State Insurance Department's Frauds Bureau.

According to Hurley, a joint investigation by the Insurance Department and the New York State Insurance Fund found that Racich fraudulently collected the money between October 2004 and December 2007. The compensation was paid to Racich after she claimed she was unable to work because of an allergic reaction she suffered when employed as a teacher at the Marcy Correctional Facility in Oneida County in 1997.

If convicted, Racich could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison. She was released on her own recognizance pending her arraignment. Onondaga County Chief Assistant District Attorney Patrick J. Quinn is prosecuting the case.

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