NEW YORK STATE DOCTOR ARRAIGNED ON AN INDICTMENT FOR DEFRAUDING THE STATE OF $27,000 WHILE DOUBLE DIPPING EMPLOYMENT

NEW CITY, N.Y. – District Attorney Thomas E. Walsh II, together with New York State Inspector General Lucy Lang, announced today that Lena Samuel, 47, of New City, New York, was arraigned in Rockland County Court on an indictment charging her with Grand Larceny in the Third Degree and 29 counts of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree.

The following is as alleged in documents filed and statements made in court:

Samuel, a Medical Review Consultant employed by the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA), defrauded the State by collecting approximately $27,000 in wages from November 25, 2023, to November 24, 2024, for hours when she was working for another employer.

During this period, Samuel submitted timesheets to OTDA claiming she was working remotely, when in fact she was working in person at Saint Dominic’s Family Services in the Bronx during those same hours.

Additionally, when applying to work remotely for OTDA, Samuel submitted three different doctor notes that were signed under the name Joan Ellen Rose, M.D. of the Division of Hospital Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. The investigation revealed that Mount Sinai has no record of this individual ever working there.

“This defendant sought to enrich herself at taxpayer expense, by claiming State pay for hours she did not work,” said District Attorney Walsh. “Public service is a public trust, and those who betray that trust will be held accountable.”

The incident was investigated by the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office Special Investigative Unit and the Offices of the New York State Inspector General.

“Fraud against the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance is a crime against New Yorkers in need and against all taxpayers,” said Inspector General Lucy Lang. “Thank you to Rockland County DA Walsh and his team for their partnership in seeking accountability for this breach of the public trust.”

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Katherine Crispi.

*It should be noted that a criminal complaint is merely an accusation, and that a defendant should be presumed innocent until proven guilty.

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