Carrier pleads guilty to mail and workers’ comp fraud charges
Press release:
Arthur Martel, 55, of Hudson, NH, pleaded guilty to a four count Information before Judge Paul Barbadoro in U.S. District Court in Concord, New Hampshire. The Information charges Martel with two counts of Mail Fraud and two counts of making a False Statement to an agency of the United States.
The Information alleges that in 1996, defendant Martel, a former postal carrier in New Hampshire, submitted a U.S. Department of Labor form which caused him thereafter to be compensated for total disability at the rate of 75% of his full-time pay at the U.S. Postal Service.
By receiving disability pay from the Department of Labor, Martel was required to periodically submit a U.S. Department of Labor form disclosing any work outside of his federal employment. The Information alleges that when submitting the aforementioned forms, Martel did not disclose his employment in the catering business. He falsified the filings to receive benefits.
Martel faces a maximum sentence of twenty years, a maximum fine of $1,000,000 and a term of supervised release of up to five years. Sentencing is scheduled for January 29, 2007 before Judge Barbadoro.
This case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Irish.