Williamsville Man Sentenced For Stealing From A Union And Insurance Company

CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX #: (716) 551-3051

BUFFALO, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Timothy McCluskey, 61, of Williamsville, NY, who was convicted of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Frank P. Geraci, Jr. to serve two years’ probation to include six months home detention. Judge Geraci also ordered the defendant to perform 100 hours of community service.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Marie P. Grisanti, who handled the case, stated that between November 21, 2014, and January 2015 the defendant conspired with another individual to defraud the International Union of Painters & Allied Trades (IUPAT).

Specifically, in December 2014, McCluskey caused a back-dated application seeking to have his then deceased brother reinstated into the union. In January of 2015, the defendant filed a death benefit claim in his brother’s name with the union, and as a result, IUPAT issued life insurance proceeds to defendant in the amount of $2,500.

In addition, between December 2014 and February 2015, defendant engaged in a scheme to defraud the Hartford Insurance Company, by falsely claiming to IUPAT that his deceased brother had worked over 500 hours at his painting company, E&M Star Painting, Inc., between January 2014 and March of 2014, such that his deceased brother would be eligible for a $50,000 life insurance policy.

Today’s sentencing is the result of an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations – Labor Racketeering and Fraud, under the direction of Michael C. Mikulka, Special

Agent-in-Charge of the New York Region, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Inspector-in-Charge Joseph W. Cronin of the Boston Division, the Employee Benefits Security Administration, under the direction of Carol S. Hamilton, Acting Regional Director, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Gary Loeffert.

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