Cop lied to get paid sick leave, collected $160K while working on comic book, feds say

A correction officer is accused of lying to stay on paid sick leave for more than a year while pursuing his interest as a cartoonist and collecting over $160,000.

Although he was able to do his job, investigators say the officer used his time away to work on a comic book.

He told the New York City Department of Correction he couldn’t work due to COVID-19 “vaccine side effects” and submitted more than 100 fake medical notes to support the claims, according to a complaint filed in federal court. Investigators say medical records later subpoenaed by the government contradicted his “claimed infirmities.”

The man is one of three Rikers Island correction officers who were arrested on Nov. 10 on federal program fraud charges after illegally getting sick leave amid the prison’s “ongoing staffing crisis,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York announced in a news release. Rikers Island, an island between the Bronx and Queens, houses New York City’s main prison facility.

Attorney Robert Tsigler, whose office is representing the officer, told McClatchy News in a statement that his client “vehemently denies the allegations” and “looks forward to the truth coming out in court and his complete vindication.”

The two other accused officers, who are described as a couple, also collected tens of thousands of dollars for more than a year after lying to get sick leave, according to a separate complaint. One woman ultimately admitted to faking medical notes in support of her injuries after she was caught traveling and partying, prosecutors say.

Benjamin Yaster, who represents the female officer accused of collecting $80,000 while on sick leave, declined a request for comment from McClatchy News, and an attorney representing the other male officer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The charges against the three officers come after the FBI and the NYC Department of Investigation began investigating those “fraudulently obtaining a salary while not working,” both criminal complaints state.

The city’s DOC Commissioner Louis A. Molina said in a statement provided to McClatchy News that “these correction officers in no way are a reflection of the hard-working women and men who represent New York’s Boldest…their conduct is unacceptable and a violation of their oath and duty to this city and our agency.”

The case

Prosecutors say the Rikers Island correction officer who claimed to suffer from COVID-19 vaccine side effects illegally collected his salary, more than $160,000, from March 2021 “to the present.”

He “repeatedly reported to DOC that he could not work because of vertigo (a type of dizziness) and other supposed side effects from the COVID-19 vaccine,” the complaint states.

A study published in January examined 33 patients who experienced vertigo after a COVID-19 vaccine and concluded that due to the small number of participants, “a definite cause–effect relationship…cannot be inferred.” Other common COVID-19 vaccine side effects include fatigue, chills, muscle pain, nausea and more, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The officer is accused of submitting fake medical notes, including real ones he received for other ailments but altered in support of his claims, according to the complaint.

Meanwhile, investigators say the officer’s Instagram account revealed how he “used his sick leave to pursue his interest in publishing comic books,” the complaint states. This account “documented his work as a cartoonist working on a comic book rather than working as a correction officer.”

By April, investigators say the officer announced on Instagram that his comic book was available to be bought.

Days later, on April 21, he is accused of telling the DOC he had a physical therapy appointment. However, that same day, he posted a photo with a “fan” at a comic book store to Instagram, investigators say. Additionally, a medical facility told investigators that the officer never showed up for a physical therapy appointment, according to the complaint.

The officer’s fake medical notes detailed how he could not “stand, sit, drive or lift,” the complaint states. But during this time, investigators say he posted a YouTube video showing himself lifting, moving and opening two large boxes containing rare comic books that “he described as ‘heavy.’”

One month later, law enforcement officials caught the officer playing basketball and driving a vehicle in June, according to the complaint.

Prosecutors say the officer’s subpoenaed medical records revealed he did not attend several appointments that he had claimed to go to.

Ultimately, law enforcement tried interviewing the officer at his home in August, according to investigators. Afterward, he deleted his Instagram account before creating a new one.

On the officer’s website for his comic book, he describes himself as “a dreamer, storyteller, artist and sheer lover of the comic book medium.”

The other officers

As for the other two Rikers Island officers in a relationship who are facing federal program fraud charges, one collected more than $80,000 in salary while the other collected $140,000, prosecutors say.

Before the female officer ultimately admitted to faking her medical records in support of purported injuries, she boasted about “scamming” her job and getting sick leave while messaging her family, a complaint states.

In a WhatsApp conversation, the officer said “at home still getting paid, unlimited sick baby. Get like me! Living my best life,” according to the complaint.

Her fiance, the other officer, is accused of reporting he was “too injured to work for over a year” while collecting more than $140,000, prosecutors say. He would arrive to DOC medical appointments with a sling, cane or a boot to support his claims.

However, he was caught making home repairs, bowling and traveling “without any difficulty or help from equipment like a boot, sling or cane,” prosecutors say.

Photos obtained by investigators of him bowling and making home repairs are included in the complaint.

All three officers face a potential maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison if convicted on the charges against them, according to the release.

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