Former NYPD cop from Yorktown charged in disability fraud
Jonathan Bandler, jbandler@lohud.com 1:01 p.m. EDT October 1, 2014
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A retired New York City police officer from Yorktown was arrested Wednesday on federal charges that he bilked Social Security out of more than $300,000 in disability benefits while working over the past decade as director of security for Tourneau, the luxury watchmaker.
James Carson, 50, was not supposed to be working while collecting disability after claiming a debilitating back injury that forced him to retire in 1991. But investigators found he was employed at Tourneau since at least 2004. He even won a prestigious award from the National Retail Federation four years ago for his work investigating credit card schemes targeting the company.
Carson was taken into custody at his home and is expected to appear in federal court in Manhattan in the afternoon.
"Not only did James Carson allegedly tell a series of lies to pocket disability benefits to which he was not entitled, but he then took sophisticated steps to conceal his fradulently obtained income from the Social Security Administration," U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement.
Since 1990, he collected more than $650,000 in Social Security benefits – including at least $306,431 while working as Tourneau's director of security, officials charge.
In April, Carson was interviewed at the Social Security Administration regarding his continued receipt of benefits. He showed up limping with a cane and claimed that he had not worked since 1995 because of his back pain. On various forms he indicated that he had no other income since his disability began; relies on his wife to drive him places because he can't drive due to the pain; and uses a cane at all times.
Asked about places he goes on a regular basis, Carson replied "I don't really go anywhere on a regular basis."
But a month earlier, Special Agent Peter Dowd, an investigator with the SSA's Office of the Inspector General, had observed Carson drive away from the parking garage at Tourneau's Long Island City office. Later in the spring, Dowd regularly tracked Carson driving between his home and the office, and on one occasion saw him enter the garage from a stairway, "walking without apparent difficulty and without a cane," get into his car and drive away.
Authorities said Carson tried to hide his income from the company by having Tourneau pay his salary to a corporation that was associated with a relative. The corporation then gave the money to the relative as wages.
Edward Ryan, Special Agent in Charge of the Office of the Inspector General, said the Social Security Disability Insurance Trust Fund was meant to provide "a safety net for the truly disabled, not (line) the pockets of scammers and thieves." He said it was "particularly troubling" that an ex-law enforcement officer would commit such a crime, especially when he was "already receiving (a) generous tax-payer financed pension."
Carson was charged with theft of government property, making false statements and failing to report income and faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
His lawyer, Kevin Kearon, declined comment.
Twitter: @jonbandler
