KINGSTON – Former Ulster County BOCES criminal justice instructor Anthony Sciacca, a retired Westchester County police officer, has been arrested for allegedly swindling the New York State and Local Retirement System out of $157,341 in unlawful pension payments.
After retiring as a Westchester cop in 2005, Sciacca became the BOCES teacher, earning a salary of over $70,000. As a state retiree under the age of 65, he was not allowed to earn more than $30,000 annually in other public employment while continuing to receive his pension without a waiver from the state.
The investigation by state and Ulster County officials found that he had a waiver from September 1, 2005 through June 30, 2011, he did not have one for the next eight years.
During that time, he continued to earn his BOCES salary of over $70,000 on top of his monthly pension payments.
When questioned about his failure to obtain a waiver, Sciacca allegedly supplied the retirement system forged documents, ostensibly from the state education department falsely showing the waivers had been approved.
As a result of his scheme, Sciacca collected over $157,000 in benefits to which he was not entitled.
He was charged with grand larceny, three counts of forgery, three counts of filing a false instrument, three counts of falsifying business records and one count of retirement fraud.
He was arraigned n New Paltz Town Court and is due back later this month.
The investigation was conducted by State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s Office, Ulster District Attorney David Clegg and the State Police.
