The owner-operator of a fish farm in Chenango County, N.Y., reeled in $66,100 in fraudulent workers’ compensation benefits from the New York State Insurance Fund before being caught.

Edward Panus, 59, of Afton, N.Y., claimed the benefits in a long-running scheme, investigators allege. He submitted signed attestations to a state agency that he had not worked or had any income following a job-related back injury in 1988. However, a six-month investigation by the New York State Insurance Department (NYSID) Frauds Bureau and the New York State Police revealed Panus had been self-employed since 1996 as the owner of Ponderosa Fish Farm.

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