New York State Inspector General Catherine Leahy Scott today announced the arrest of and charges against a former Oneida County chiropractor accused of faking examinations and reports to facilitate fraudulent Workers’ Compensation claims by employees of the Central New York Psychiatric Center (CNYPC).
Eric Szatko, 47, of Sauqoit, who formerly had a chiropractic practice in Utica, was charged today with Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree, four counts of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree and three counts of the Workers’ Compensation crime of Fraudulent Practices, all felonies.
The charges against Szatko all relate to incidents that occurred in early 2016 involving three sperate employees of the psychiatric center, including one who was convicted last March of feigning a debilitating injury to obtain paid time off as if he was too injured to work while he was in fact kayaking in Puerto Rico and vacationing with his girlfriend in California. The charges are part of Inspector General Leahy Scott’s long-standing and ongoing investigation into Workers’ Compensation fraud in central New York.
“These charges allege a sham medical mill run by a practitioner whose brazen malpractice on New York’s taxpayers enabled state employees to feign injuries and enjoy paid time off to which they were not entitled,” said Inspector General Leahy Scott. “The integrity of the Worker’s Compensation system is paramount to protect honest, hard-working New Yorkers, and this arrest emphasizes my commitment and that of my law enforcement partners to pursue any and all fraud to the fullest extent of the law.”
An investigation by Inspector General Leahy Scott found that Szatko, acting as an authorized medical provider for the Workers’ Compensation system, submitted to the State Insurance Fund fraudulent medical progress reports indicating he examined and treated psychiatric center employees on several separate occasions in early 2016, when in fact no such examinations or treatments occurred. With those reports, Szatko was also billing for medical services that were not provided.
In one instance, Szatko submitted to CNYPC a medical excuse for Ryan Haley, a former employee who worked at the facility at that time, to be out of work with pay for two days in February and between March 31 and April 15, 2016 when no examination was performed. Haley was not injured at the time and used the paid time off for a kayaking excursion in Puerto Rico and a trip to California with his girlfriend. Haley was separately prosecuted for Workers’ Compensation fraud and pleaded guilty, paid restitution and resigned from State service last March.
The charges also allege that Szatko provided a medical excuse for another CNYPC employee to be out of work with pay for two weeks in February 2016 when the employee had not been examined by Szatko and was not injured at the time. An additional employee received nearly three weeks of paid time off that same February under similar allegations.
The Inspector General’s investigation is continuing.
Szatko was arraigned in Utica City Court and released on his own recognizance pending his reappearance in court on June 14.
Inspector General Leahy Scott thanked Oneida County District Attorney Scott D. McNamara and his office for assisting with the investigation and for prosecuting this matter, and the New York State Police for their assistance with the arrest.
The defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in a court of law.
