Long Island Man Among 13 NYC Police and Fire Personnel Indicted for Insurance Fraud

More than a dozen public employees in Queens and Brooklyn, including New York City Police Department Traffic Agents and FDNY EMTs, lieutenants and paramedics, were arrested and indicted Tuesday for allegedly committing insurance fraud against the American Family Life Assurance Company (AFLAC).

The attorney general said that these city employees allegedly signed up for disability insurance through AFLAC and manipulated the system by forging physician’s or supervisor’s signatures to file false insurance claims. This group of defendants allegedly collectively stole over $500,000. Each defendant stands accused of one count of grand larceny and one count of insurance fraud for thefts that ranged from more than $3,000 to more than $100,000 per defendant.

“Public employees are entrusted to adhere to the highest code of conduct. Yet these defendants undermined the public trust in government and the integrity of our insurance system by perpetrating this alleged scheme,” said Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. “Cracking down on public corruption is a top priority for my office, and we will continue our relentless work with our partners in law enforcement to root out fraud and waste wherever we find it.”

Jose Solis, 34, of Valley Stream, was arrested Tuesday morning and charged with third-degree grand larceny and third-degree insurance fraud. Solis has been employed as an FDNY paramedic since April 2008. He is charged with defrauding AFLAC of approximately $27,229.

"We depend on honesty and integrity from all our public servants and these workers failed us," Department of Investigations Commissioner Mark Peters said. "Our independent investigation will continue to root out this corrupt behavior with more arrests expected to follow."

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