FROM: HOLLEY CARNRIGHT
DATE: NOVEMBER 27, 2012
RE: PRESS RELEASE – PEOPLE V
CAMILLE BISHOP
Camille
Bishop, 40, of Saugerties, pled guilty last week in Ulster County Court to
Attempted Workers Compensation Fraudulent Practices.
Ms. Bishop,
a police officer with the Town of New Paltz, had joined the force in late
2004. In her application for employment,
she denied any prior back injury. However,
within one year of joining the force, Ms. Bishop went out on medical leave due
to an alleged back injury she suffered while moving a tree which had fallen in
a roadway. For most of the next four
years, Ms. Bishop remained on paid medical leave claiming disability from this
back injury. In 2009, Ulster County
workers’ compensation insurance plan officials discovered that Ms. Bishop had suffered
a back injury in a 2001 motor vehicle accident, which had required treatment
for over a year and a half following the accident. Bishop had not disclosed this injury in her
New Paltz Police Department application. When questioned during the worker’s
compensation review, Ms. Bishop denied any recollection of this 2001 back
injury.
As a result
of her conviction, Ms. Bishop has had to resign from her position with the Town
of New Paltz Police and will have to repay a significant portion of her salary back
to the Town.
Workers' Compensation Board
Chairman Robert E. Beloten said: “The Workers' Compensation Board works
aggressively to protect the integrity of the system from abuse. In this case, our Fraud Inspector General
worked with the New Paltz Police Department and the Ulster County District
Attorney’s Office to identify and prosecute an individual who made a fraudulent
claim. We will continue our efforts with
law enforcement partners to protect the system for those who need it.” District Attorney Holley Carnright indicated
that this prosecution furthers his goal of ending abuse of our government-provided
system of benefits, especially by a public official, and thanked the
investigative staff of the Workers’ Compensation Board for their invaluable
assistance.
Sentencing
of Ms. Bishop has been scheduled for February 5, 2013 in Ulster County Court. The case was prosecuted by Assistant District
Attorney Joshua Povill.
