Crime & Safety
LIRR Worker from New Hyde Park Admits to Disability Scam
Former employee services director Regina Walsh testifies on fraud that cost taxpayers $1 billion.
A New Hyde Park woman allegedly involved in the Long Island Rail Road disability fraud conspiracy has testified about her role in the scam in Federal court.
Regina Walsh, 65, the former director of employee services, testified in Manhattan Federal Court that she and retired conductor James Maher, 60, exaggerated their disabilities and identified two of the three persons on trial who are charged with being key perpetrators of the scam.
Walsh, who retired from the LIRR in 2006 after 30 years, pled guilty to charges in January and faces 6 to 12 months in prison.
According to a Newsday report:
"I lied," Walsh said under questioning by Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy Friedlander about what she did to get a disability award from the federal Railroad Retirement Board around the time she retired. Walsh testified that she did so with the help of Dr. Peter J. Ajemian, a Rockville Centre orthopedist, and Marie Baran, who once worked for the board's office in Westbury until she retired in December 2006 and then started advising workers on filing for disability.
In her testimony, Walsh said that she was able to perpetrate the fraud using the claims filing system in order to exaggerate claims about injuries incurred on the job and for which approval was easy to obtain. She stated that she was testifying in order to set things right. The scam is estimated to have cost $1 billion to taxpayers.
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