LI Man Fraudulently Got Disability Benefits: NY Attorney General

NEW YORK, NY — A Huntington man was arrested and accused of fraudulently collecting more than $200,000 in disability benefits from the Social Security Administration, New York Attorney General Letitia James said on Thursday.

Anthony Ragusa, 50, falsely told the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance that he was unable to work and perform daily activities as a result of injuries caused by a 2013 fall, the Office of the Attorney General said. Ragusa's claims ran from 2013 through 2020, according to the attorney general.

Ragusa said he was disabled and collected disability benefits, prosecutors said. He was still the president and owner of White Star Limousine — where he continued to earn income — and was seen in numerous social media photos and videos showing him lifting heavy weights, according to the attorney general.

"Disability benefits exist to help those who need a safety net when their bodies cannot fulfill day-to-day obligations," James said in a statement. "While cheating the state out of thousands of dollars, Anthony Ragusa was simultaneously running a business and posing for pictures of his bodybuilding on the internet. Fraudulently collecting these benefits was not only a shameful slap in the face to those who actually live with disabilities, but a vast waste of taxpayer dollars. My office will not hesitate to pursue those who defraud our system and saddle our state with debt."

Ragusa was arraigned Thursday and charged with second-degree grand larceny (a C felony) and first-degree offering a false instrument for filing (an E felony).

Ragusa first applied for disability in 2013 when he said that his injuries from a fall as an electrician were so severe that he had difficulty bending over to put on shoes, walking for more than 15 minutes and sitting for more than 30 minutes. Ragusa also said that the pain from his injuries prevented him from working in any capacity.

Investigators reviewed documents from the state Department of Transportation and minutes from a town hearing from 2012 show that, at the time of his fall, Ragusa was the president and owner of the White Star Limousine company in New Hyde Park, prosecutors said. Video and photographs on Ragusa's wife's Instagram account show that beginning in 2017, Ragusa began a physical transformation into a bodybuilder, according to the attorney general.

From January 2015 to 2020, Ragusa maintained his eligibility in hearings and written reports despite continuing to run a business and lift weights, authorities said.

"This arrest exemplifies the results we can deliver to taxpayers through our Cooperative Disability Investigations Program, which serves to ensure that only those who are eligible for Social Security disability benefits are able to receive them," said Special Agent-in-Charge John F. Grasso, of the Social Security Office of the Inspector General, New York Field Division.