Crime & Safety

Cranston Man to Repay $10,000 in Workers' Comp he Collected while Employed

"All Rhode Islanders pay the price when someone knowingly commits workers' compensation fraud," said Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin.

A 54-year-old Cranston man accused of collecting more than $10,000 in Workers' Compensation benefits while working for his painting company over a period of seven months in 2007 pleaded no contest to the charges in Providence Superior Court on Monday.

Associate Justice William E. Carnes Jr. ordered James M. Casale, of 110 Dunedin St., Cranston, to pay back the state the $10,232 he collected between February and August of 2007 after he failed to report returning to work, Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin said in a release.

Casale was also sentenced to a four-year suspended prison sentence with probation.

“All Rhode Islanders pay the price when someone knowingly commits workers’ compensation fraud,” said Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin.  “Fraud causes higher insurance costs for employers and costs honest workers wages and benefits, with consumers eventually paying more at the cash register.  With a prosecutor dedicated to handle all workers’ compensation fraud, unemployment insurance fraud and theft of wages cases, we have secured more than a dozen pleas and more than $200,000 in court-ordered restitution to the state’s safety net programs.”

“At a time when public trust of institutions both public and private is low, we hope this result shows that government agencies can and do work well together and hold accountable those who break the law,” said DLT Director Charles J. Fogarty. “I am grateful for the level of cooperation between the staffs of the Attorney General’s Office and DLT that brought about the prosecution and conviction of the defendant.”

Collin P. Hanrahan, an Investigator at the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training Workers’ Compensation Fraud and Compliance Unit led the investigation. Special Assistant Attorney General Genevieve Allaire Johnson prosecuted the case on behalf of the State.

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