By Forum Staff
A criminal complaint was recently unsealed in federal court in Brooklyn charging City Department of Correction (DOC) officer James Internicola with federal program fraud.
Internicola has been a correction officer with the DOC since January 1996. In 2019, he began working at a warehouse at Rikers Island which manages supplies for the jail facility, as well as facility garbage and recycling. Currently, Internicola is primarily responsible for all recycling operations at Rikers Island.
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“Instead of being at work, the defendant was often at home or even on vacation,” Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Peace said.
According to the complaint, Internicola fraudulently obtained more than $171,000 in salary and overtime pay by lying about the hours he worked from at least July 2021 to January 2023. During this time period, Internicola claimed to work large amounts of overtime nearly every week. In fact, based on license plate reader data, E-Z pass toll records and cell site location information, Internicola frequently showed up to work more than two hours late and left work several hours early. In many instances, Internicola claimed to be at work when he actually never showed up to Rikers Island at all, including when he was at his home on Staten Island, visiting the Jersey Shore or vacationing in Aruba. In total, Internicola claimed to have worked more than 2,250 hours in a period of approximately 18 months and he fraudulently received the equivalent of more than a year of his base salary.
“As alleged, the defendant defrauded the people of New York City and the New York City Department of Correction by claiming to work significant amounts of hours, including overtime, that he did not actually work,” said Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Breon Peace. “Instead of being at work, the defendant was often at home or even on vacation. Correction officers who steal tax dollars by fraudulently obtaining compensation should take note of today’s arrest and know that this Office is working with our law enforcement partners to root out corruption at Rikers Island.”
