A Milpitas, Calif. resident may have created a new application for the phrase “adding insult to injury,” after being arrested for workers’ compensation insurance fraud. Antone Costa Rita Jr. allegedly sustained an injury to his ankle while painting a tennis court during his time as a city worker for Menlo Park, Calif.
Rita filed a workers’ compensation claim with his employer, the city of Menlo Park, on November 19, 2002. He spent the years following his claim in a number of ways that the California Department of Insurance (CDI) found more than a little suspicious. Even after multiple treatments, including surgery to repair the injury, Rita continued to complain to his doctors of severe pain, limping, and even worsening of the condition that prevented him from finding work. Video surveillance, however, told a different story.
Undercover video footage taken throughout 2006 by a private investigation firm showed Rita walking normally, displaying no indications of pain in his allegedly “injured” ankle. The investigator also recorded Rita performing a number of tasks that appeared to be work-related at a San Jose repair shop.
The evidence gathered led to Rita’s arrest on July 31, along with charges of presenting a false or fraudulent insurance claim and making false or fraudulent statements to his employer and to his treating physicians. The case is being prosecuted by the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office. It could result in a five-year prison sentence and/or $10,000 in fines for each count.
That amount in fines pales in comparison to the nearly $170,000 in expenses to Menlo Park that were racked up over the years. The city’s third-party administrator, Innovative Claims Solutions, paid reparations, including $38,200 in indemnity benefits, $23,300 in temporary total disability benefits, $14,800 in permanent disability benefits, $38,500 in medical treatment, $3,600 in vocational rehabilitation benefits, and $50,400 in legal expenses, including defense costs and investigation. Rita may be headed for prison, but he’s leaving tax payers to foot a big bill for a phony ankle injury.