Bill Text: NY S08434 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Discourages workers' compensation fraud; increases penalties; forfeiture of real property, buildings, and appurtenances.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-05-07 - REFERRED TO LABOR [S08434 Detail]
Download: New_York-2017-S08434-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8434 IN SENATE May 7, 2018 ___________ Introduced by Sen. MURPHY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Labor AN ACT to amend the workers' compensation law and the penal law, in relation to discouraging workers' compensation fraud The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 114 of the workers' compensation law, as added by 2 chapter 635 of the laws of 1996, subdivision 4 as amended and subdivi- 3 sion 5 as added by chapter 6 of the laws of 2007, is amended to read as 4 follows: 5 § 114. Penalties for fraudulent practices. 1. Any person who, knowing- 6 ly and with intent to defraud presents, causes to be presented, or 7 prepares with knowledge or belief that it will be presented to or by an 8 insurer or purported insurer, or any agent thereof, any written state- 9 ment as part of, or in support of, an application for the issuance of or 10 the rating of an insurance policy for compensation insurance[, or a11claim for payment or other benefit pursuant to a compensation policy] 12 which he or she knows to: (i) contain a false statement or represen- 13 tation concerning any fact material thereto; or (ii) omits any fact 14 material thereto, shall be guilty of a class E felony. Upon conviction, 15 the court in addition to any other authorized sentence, may order 16 forfeiture of [all rights to compensation or payments of any benefit] 17 any property, including real property, buildings and appurtenances that 18 constitute the instrumentality of the entity on whose behalf the appli- 19 cation was made, and may also require restitution of any amount received 20 as a result of a violation of this subdivision. 21 1-a. Any person who, knowingly and with intent to defraud presents, 22 causes to be presented, or prepares with knowledge or belief that it 23 will be presented to or by an insurer or purported insurer, or any agent 24 thereof, any written statement as part of, or in support of, a claim for 25 payment or other benefit pursuant to a compensation policy which he or 26 she knows to: (i) contain a false statement or representation concerning 27 any fact material thereto; or (ii) omits any fact material thereto, 28 shall be guilty of a class E felony. Upon conviction, the court in addi- EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD14814-01-8S. 8434 2 1 tion to any other authorized sentence, may order forfeiture of all 2 rights to compensation or payments of any benefit, and may also require 3 restitution of any amount received as a result of a violation of this 4 subdivision. 5 2. An employer or carrier, or any employee, agent, or person acting on 6 behalf of an employer or carrier, who knowingly makes a false statement 7 or representation as to a material fact in the course of reporting, 8 investigation of, or adjusting a claim for any benefit or payment under 9 this chapter for the purpose of avoiding provision of such payment or 10 benefit shall be guilty of a class E felony. Upon conviction, the court 11 in addition to any other authorized sentence, may order forfeiture of 12 any property, including real property, buildings and appurtenances that 13 constitute the instrumentality of the employer or carrier and may also 14 require restitution of any amount received as a result of a violation of 15 this subdivision. 16 3. A person who knowingly makes a false statement or representation as 17 to a material fact for the purpose of obtaining, maintaining or renewing 18 insurance under this chapter, whether for himself or herself or for any 19 other person or entity or for the purpose of evading the requirements of 20 section fifty of this chapter shall be guilty of a class E felony. Upon 21 conviction, the court in addition to any other authorized sentence, may 22 order forfeiture of any property, including real property, buildings and 23 appurtenances that constitute the instrumentality of the entity on whose 24 behalf the application was made. In addition to any other remedy, the 25 carrier providing insurance shall be entitled to restitution of any 26 amount obtained or withheld as a result of a violation of this subdivi- 27 sion. 28 4. Consistent with the provisions of the criminal procedure law, in 29 any prosecution alleging a violation of subdivision one, two or three of 30 this section, or sections fifty-two and one hundred thirty-one of this 31 chapter, in which the act or acts alleged may also constitute a 32 violation of the penal or other law, the prosecuting official may charge 33 a person pursuant to the provisions of this section and in the same 34 accusatory instrument with a violation of such other law. 35 5. A person (a) who is convicted of a second or subsequent offense 36 under this section within ten years of the prior conviction, or (b) who 37 violates any provision of this section concerning two or more claimants, 38 shall be guilty of a class [D] B felony. 39 § 2. Paragraph (b) of subdivision 1 of section 460.10 of the penal 40 law, as amended by chapter 442 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read 41 as follows: 42 (b) Any felony set forth elsewhere in the laws of this state and 43 defined by the tax law relating to alcoholic beverage, cigarette, gaso- 44 line and similar motor fuel taxes; article seventy-one of the environ- 45 mental conservation law relating to water pollution, hazardous waste or 46 substances hazardous or acutely hazardous to public health or safety of 47 the environment; article twenty-three-A of the general business law 48 relating to prohibited acts concerning stocks, bonds and other securi- 49 ties, article twenty-two of the general business law concerning monopo- 50 lies, article seven of the workers' compensation law concerning fraud. 51 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
