$200K Workers' Comp Claim Denied By Owner, NJ Business Indicted: AG

NEW JERSEY — The longtime owner of a landscaping business was indicted for failing to pay workers' compensation to an employee who got injured on the job, the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General announced Monday. Investigators discovered that Richard Hockenberry Landscaping didn't carry workers' compensation at the time of the employee's injury — a violation of state law — authorities said.

Richard Hockenberry, of Hawthorne, was indicted on a charge of fourth-degree failure to provide workers' compensation. The attorney general's office also announced an indictment in a separate case relating to employee benefits: a Secaucus woman received nearly $20,000 in unemployment claims despite working full-time, the indictment says.

Worker's Comp Case

Hockenberry's employee got injured Feb. 26, 2018, according to the attorney general's office. The worker filed a workers' compensation claim petition about two months later.

During the investigation, state records indicated that Rick Hockenberry Landscaping had no workers' compensation coverage on the date of the accident, authorities said. The company maintained coverage from 1977-93 and only purchased a new policy Aug. 11, 2018 — after the worker's injury, the attorney general's office said.

The policy was canceled for non-payment of premium on March 10, 2019, authorities said.

Unemployment Theft

Brianna Larkins, of Secaucus, took $19,659 from the state's unemployment program, according to the indictment. The 34-year-old filed for unemployment while she worked full-time for the Kings County District Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn, authorities said.

Larkins did not disclose her employment to the New Jersey Department of Labor when she made the claim, the attorney general's office said. She collected benefits from March 20, 2020, to Dec. 5, 2020, authorities said.