FRAUD PLOT UNMASKED
Cops: T driver paid pal to attack in comp scam
MBTA officials are vowing to recoup the more than $34,000 — and counting — a Mattapan trolley driver has collected in workers’ compensation since, police say, he paid a friend to don a Halloween mask and attack him in a “phony” on-the-job assault.
Thomas Lucey, 46, is facing charges of insurance and workers compensation fraud, among other counts, in connection with the bizarre plot, which police say crumbled when they lifted fingerprints off a fake plastic pumpkin his “attacker” left behind and traced them back to Lucey’s friend.
Lucey, who was indicted Wednesday, was still collecting both disability insurance and workers’ compensation as of yesterday, according to T officials. It was unclear what he’s made in disability insurance but T officials say he has scooped up $34,443 in workers’ comp. He made $41,675 in pay in 2016, according to T payroll records.
T officials said they’ve also “initiated appropriate disciplinary actions” against him.
“Make no mistake, the T will seek to recoup the payments made,” T spokesman Joe Pesaturo said.
Efforts to reach Lucey were not successful yesterday, and his attorney, Stephen Borelli, declined comment. He’s expected to be arraigned March 20 in Suffolk Superior Court.
Police said they responded on Oct. 30, 2016, to the Cedar Grove Station on the Mattapan trolley line, where Lucey claimed a man in dark coveralls, wearing a “Michael Myers” Halloween mask and carrying a plastic pumpkin, boarded the trolley and attacked him before pulling him off the train and pummeling him on the ground.
The attacker then ran off, leaving behind the plastic pumpkin.
Lucey went to the hospital and later filed paperwork to begin collecting workers’ compensation. He also claimed to have post-traumatic stress from the attack and began receiving longterm disability insurance.
After the incident, the T released surveillance video showing the masked assailant running away from the scene and asked for the public’s help in identifying him.
“This was a cowardly act,” Transit police said at the time, “and assaults on MBTA employees will NOT be tolerated.”
But police said they determined the beating wasn’t what it seemed. Using the fake pumpkin, they found Lucey’s associate, who allegedly said Lucey paid him $2,000 to orchestrate the attack. Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley’s office said authorities also have bank and phone records showing the two had communicated both before and after the supposed attack.
The associate, who police didn’t identify, cooperated in the probe, police said.
“Programs like workers’ compensation are in place to benefit hard-working employees with a strong commitment to public service,” MBTA general manager Luis Ramirez said in a statement. “When someone abuses the system, we need to call it out, and state very clearly that such conduct will not be tolerated.”