Workers compensation - Augusta Georgia Lawyer

Nassau County charges workers with stealing benefits
October 22, 2009 By CARL MACGOWAN carl.macgowan@newsday.com


Nassau County charges workers with stealing benefits
Two Nassau County employees lied about their injuries to draw thousands of dollars in fraudulent workers' compensation benefits, Nassau District Attorney Kathleen Rice said Thursday.

One employee, who left work because of a head injury, was seen jogging more than two miles to work out at a gym, and the other worker was caught lifting heavy dental chairs despite a back injury he got at his county job, Rice said at a news conference in Mineola.

Sean Tolliver, 50, of West Hempstead, a social worker at the Nassau juvenile detention center, and John Buonagura, 46, of Floral Park, a county bridge operator, were each charged with third-degree grand larceny among other charges.

Tolliver was fired by the county in May and Buonagura was fired in 1991, a county spokeswoman said.

Buonagura, who suffered the back injury, had a private sector job repairing and installing dental office equipment while receiving workers' comp benefits, Rice said.

Buonagura's attorney, Ira Raab of West Palm Beach, Fla., said Buonagura received permission from workers' compensation board doctors in 1995 to work in exchange for having his benefits reduced to $175 a week from $450 a week.

"They said he was allowed to work," Raab said. "I have it in my hands, a document signed by the workers' compensation doctor."

A surveillance video played at Rice's news conference showed a man officials identified as Buonagura lifting a dental chair into a van with the help of another man in 2007.

Another video showed a man authorities said was Tolliver washing his car, jogging 2.6 miles to a gym and lifting weights for an hour before running home.

Tolliver suffered his head injury in September 2008, but did not return to work after being cleared by a doctor, Rice said.

Tolliver received more than $17,000 in benefits, and Buonagura collected more than $14,000, Rice said.

Tolliver could not be reached for comment Thursday, and his attorney did not immediately return a phone call.

Tolliver and Buonagura are among seven people charged with insurance fraud by Nassau and state authorities.

The seven suspects, who combined allegedly took more than $50,000 in insurance and workers' compensation benefits, "thought nothing of stealing money from the pockets of honest taxpayers," Rice said.

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