Authorities have arrested a Staten Island man for allegedly falsifying multiple COVID-19 test results for five consecutive months in 2020 to obtain workers’ compensation benefits, New York Inspector General Lucy Lang announced.
Ajani Shaw, 23, of Staten Island, was arraigned Tuesday afternoon in Richmond County Supreme Court on one count of grand theft in the fourth degree, one count of insurance fraud in the fourth degree, seven counts of forgery in the third degree, seven counts of falsifying business records in the first degree and seven counts of fraudulent workers’ compensation practices.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office report, in March 2020, Shaw worked as a part-time kitchen service employee at the nursing home Seaview from Staten Island. Here, Shaw allegedly filed a workers’ compensation claim for exposure to COVID-19, including an April 3, 2020 “out of work” note signed by a doctor from Advantage Care Physicians of Staten Island and a positive COVID-19 test dated April 8, 2020 to the insurance company. The insurer then began paying Shaw $150 a week in workers’ compensation benefits.
Defendant later allegedly emailed additional documents to the insurance company purporting to support the extension of his claim and benefit with a positive COVID-19 test result dated April 19, 2020 and a note from “out of work” dated April 22, 2020. In addition, he allegedly submitted six additional positive COVID-19 test results from May 8 to August 8, 2020 and an “out of work” notice prescribing four more weeks. of quarantine. The insurer continued to pay benefits to Shaw until July 24, 2020, when it noticed that many of the positive test results used the same sample ID.
The investigation determined that Shaw had two legitimate positive test results for COVID-19 in April 2020. Shaw had two doctor appointments at Advantage Care in April 2020, but was not seen again until August 2020. April 2020 notes were legitimate filings, the June 2020 note prescribing an additional four weeks of quarantine was fraudulent. In total, the investigation found that Shaw submitted six false positive test reports to the insurance company, in addition to the false medical note from June 2020.
Because of these filings, Shaw continued to receive $150 per week in benefits, for a total of $1,761 in severance payments.
“Workers’ Compensation insurance is essential to the success of our state’s workforce and businesses, and even more so in times of crisis,” said Inspector General Lang. “Thank you to our partners at the Staten Island District Attorney’s Office for helping to ensure the integrity of this vital safety net.”
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