Insta posts uncover disability claimant’s sideline in bodybuilding
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A former electrician who was claiming benefits for a 2013 injury evidently forgot the internet era’s first rule of disability fraud – don’t let anyone post anything about you on social media ever.
According to New York authorities, Anthony Ragusa of Long Island collected more than $200,000 in disability benefits after an on-the-job fall nearly 10 years ago.
According to a statement from the state’s office of the attorney general, Mr. Ragusa ran a limousine business and embarked on a bodybuilding campaign while claiming that he was in such pain that he could not bend over to put on shoes.
Extensive video and photographic evidence on his wife’s Instagram account, though, showed beginning in 2017 he was lifting heavy weights at a well-known gym for bodybuilders and training for competitions.
Mr. Ragusa last week pled guilty to grand larceny and agreed to pay back the $200,000. He faces up to three years in prison.
