Buffalo Bus Driver Gets 5 Years Probation for Workers’ Compensation Claims Fraud

December 22, 2022

A former bus driver for the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA) has been sentenced to five years of probation for fraudulently obtaining workers’ compensation benefits by misrepresenting her injuries. She must also pay full restitution to the NFTA for money she was paid through workers’ compensation.

According to Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn, defendant Antoinette Laney of Kenmore claimed that she was unable to perform her work as a bus driver at the NFTA and fraudulently obtained $30,212.69 in pay between September 2018 and February 2020 through workers’ compensation benefits. The defendant initially claimed that she was unable to work due to a right knee injury, but later amended the claim to a lower back and left knee injury.

The district attorney’s office said its investigation also revealed that Laney performed work through Instacart and Ebay while continuing to collect workers’ compensation pay.

Laney pleaded guilty to one count of grand larceny on September 26, 2022. She was sentenced this week before Erie County Court Judge Kenneth Case.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Robin J. Deubler of the Special Investigations and Prosecutions unit.

Topics Fraud Claims Workers' Compensation Talent Personal Auto

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