Former VA Employee Arrested, Charged with Filing False Statements

ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that  Amelia Jackson, 43, of Rochester, N.Y., was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with knowingly making false material statements and certifications and knowingly concealing outside employment in connection with an application for and receipt of Federal Employee Compensation. The charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

            Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig R. Gestring, who is handling the case, stated that according to the complaint, the defendant was employed at the VA Medical Center in Canandaigua, N.Y. On August 15, 2008, Jackson filed paperwork with the United States Department of Labor claiming to have suffered a back injury while working with a patient. Subsequent information provided by the defendant indicated that she was medically limited as to the number of hours she could work each day and did not work outside of her federal job due to her injury.

            In January of 2012, a VA employee went to Last Call Liquors on East Main Street in Rochester and observed the defendant working in the store which investigators later determined that Jackson owns and operates. The defendant was observed on several occasions going to Last Call Liquors following her four hour disability shift at the VA.    

            Jackson was arraigned this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Marian W. Payson. She was released and is due back in court on June 26, 2013.

            The complaint is the culmination of an investigation on the part of Special Agents of Jackthe United States Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Robert L. Panella, Special Agents of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey Hughes, and the VA Police Department, under the direction of Chief Jon Godfrey.  

The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.