Lydia Parise of Lindenhurst admits collecting $110G in worker's comp for dead husband, IG says

A Lindenhurst woman repaid almost $110,000 she fraudulently collected by depositing her dead husband’s worker’s compensation checks and will serve probation but no jail time, the state inspector general said.

In a news release Wednesday, Inspector General Lucy Lang said Lydia Parise pleaded guilty to misdemeanor petit larceny last Friday, paying back $109,263 under the plea deal. Parise, 59, was sentenced to 1 year of probation and community service, but will be allowed to withdraw her plea and plead guilty instead to a violation-level offense of disorderly conduct if she successfully completes her sentence.

"Workers’ Compensation benefits are a financial lifeline for injured workers and their families, and fraud of this nature jeopardizes the integrity of the system," Lang said in a statement.

According to the release, Parise continued to deposit her husband’s worker’s compensation benefit checks into their joint account for years after his 2018 death, forging his signature on 80 checks. A spokesman for Lang's office, Michael Cook, identified Parise's husband as Joseph Parise.

Cook said in an email that authorities began their investigation after getting a tip from a claims supervisor at a workers' compensation third-party administrator.

Investigations by the state Workers' Compensation Fraud Inspector General uncovered more than $768,000 in worker's compensation fraud in 2023, Cook said. Criminal convictions from those investigations resulted in more than $1.3 million in fines and restitution for state agencies, insurance carriers and employers. 

Ira Rosenberg, a Central Islip lawyer representing Parise, according to court records, could not be reached for comment.