New York State Inspector General Catherine Leahy Scott today announced the guilty plea of a State Office of Mental Health Safety and Security Officer on charges he obtained and used falsified medical records to substantiate time off from work.
Gregory Jones, 42, of Utica, pleaded guilty today to the charge of Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Third Degree. At his plea appearance in Utica City Court, Jones also submitted his letter of resignation from State employment.
Jones’s wife, Brooks Jones, 42, was accused of helping her husband obtain the medical records to use in the scheme, and the charge of Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree remains pending against her.
An investigation by Inspector General Leahy Scott found that Gregory Jones, who works at the Mohawk Valley Psychiatric Center in Utica, filed a Standard Medical Certification form in late September 2017 justifying time off from work. That form, which serves as proof that an individual did in fact have a medical reason to take the time off, came from the doctor’s office in which Brooks Jones works as an office manager. The physician whose signature was on the form indicated he had never treated Gregory Jones and that the signature on the form was not his own.
“Mr. Jones brazenly concocted a fraudulent scheme deceiving his employer and getting taxpayers to subsidize paid time off to which he was not entitled,” said Inspector General Leahy Scott. “I will continue using all of the resources at my disposal to pursue any public employee who falsifies documents in a fraud against the government.”
Brooks Jones, whose case is in the New Hartford Town Court, remains released pending further court action.
Inspector General Leahy Scott thanked the New York State Police for their assistance with the investigation, and Oneida County District Attorney Scott McNamara and his office for prosecuting this matter.
Defendant Brooks Jones is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in a court of law.
