Dad keeps quiet about construction job, gets $270K in disability in NJ, feds say
A New Jersey man collected disability checks while claiming to the Social Security Administration that he couldn’t work.
But he earned “substantial income” from working in construction, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey.
The man never told the SSA that he managed a home improvement company and performed physical labor from 2012 through 2020, when the agency issued him about $270,933.10 in disability benefits to support him, his wife and children, federal prosecutors say.
Now, the 49-year-old Toms River resident is facing possible prison time, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in an April 11 news release.
The man’s attorney didn’t return McClatchy News’ request for comment April 15.
The man pleaded guilty on April 10 to theft of public money and making false statements to the SSA, according to prosecutors.
Had the SSA known he held a construction job and earned income, the man would’ve been ineligible for disability payments, according to court filings.
Before defrauding the agency, the man received disability for an injury suffered in April 2010, prosecutors say. The SSA issued him payments from April 2010 through November 2011.
In February 2012, the man applied for additional benefits for himself and his family, saying the injury continued to keep him out of work, according to court documents.
The SSA decided he wasn’t eligible for more benefits at the time, court documents say.
Then in January 2013, the man asked the agency to reconsider his request, according to prosecutors.
In his request, court documents say he wrote “he was not working and that he had multiple sclerosis,” or MS, an autoimmune condition.
After the agency denied his request, the man filed an appeal, according to prosecutors.
Then, an administrative law judge ruled in his favor in March 2015, finding he was owed disability benefits since February 2012, court documents say.
The judge decided the man “was only fit to perform very light physical work,” prosecutors wrote in court filings.
He “concealed his employment” and construction job “so that he, his spouse and his dependents could continue to receive benefits from the SSA in furtherance of his scheme,” court documents say.
The man could face up to 10 years in prison on the charge of theft of public money and up to five years in prison on the charge of making a false statement to the SSA, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. He could also be ordered to pay up to a $250,000 fine on both charges.
In addition, he could be ordered to pay restitution, according to his plea agreement.
Toms River, a Jersey Shore town, is about a 40-mile drive southeast from Trenton.
This story was originally published April 15, 2025 at 9:29 AM with the headline "Dad keeps quiet about construction job, gets $270K in disability in NJ, feds say."
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