TOMPKINS COUNTY MAN ARRESTED FOR WORKERS’ COMP FRAUD

A 34-year-old Tompkins County man was arrested Friday on charges that he fraudulently accepted $10,000 in workers’ compensation benefits, the New York State Insurance Department reported.

James P. Queen, of 667 Old Stage Rd., Groton, was charged with workers’ compensation fraud and offering a false instrument for filing. He was arrested by Cortland police and released in his own recognizance pending a hearing to be scheduled in Cortland County Court.

Queen is accused of accepting $3,000 in workers’ compensation benefits from the New York State Insurance Fund and stating that he was not working as the result of a job-related knee injury. At the same time, he was employed by a private security business, investigators said. He later collected $7,000 in workers’ compensation benefits from AIG Insurance, again falsely claiming he was unable to work because he had injured the same knee.

Queen was arrested following an investigation by the Insurance Fund, AIG’s Special Investigative Unit and Gordon Saggese of the Insurance Department’s Frauds Bureau.

If he is convicted, Queen could be sentenced to up to four years in prison. The case is being prosecuted by District Attorney David Hartnett.