NJ WATCHDOG: Disgraced cop shoots for disability pension

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It’s hard to believe, but former Camden city police sergeant Jeffrey Frett is taking another shot at a New Jersey disability pension.

A previous attempt by Frett to retire on disability involved gunplay by his wife, a botched shooting and a guilty plea – results of a backfiring plot to cheat the Police and Firemen’s Retirement System.

The next round is scheduled for Monday at a PFRS board meeting, New Jersey Watchdog has learned. Frett’s history is almost certain to be a focal point as trustees consider his application for a lucrative accidental disability pension.

In November 2010, Frett had a scheme: While he was alone on patrol in Camden one night, his wife would drive up in a dark van. She would shoot him in the leg and escape as an unknown assailant.

Injured in the line of duty, Frett would retire on disability at age 40 to collect a tax-free pension of roughly $50,000 a year — two-thirds of his salary — for the rest his life. And they would live happily ever after.

But that’s not what happened.

The full story is online at http://newjersey.watchdog.org. The direct link is http://newjersey.watchdog.org/2014/05/01/police-disability-abuse.

NJ WATCHDOG: 'Disabled' Double-Dippers Drain Millions from NJ Pensions

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Meet New Jersey's "disabled" double-dippers. They get two sets of checks from the state – one for working and another because they cannot work:

· As a lawyer for Gov. Chris Christie, Adam Heck collects a $110,000 state salary – plus an additional $44,000 a year in police pension pay for being "totally and permanently disabled" in the eyes of New Jersey.

· Scott Jenkins gets $186,000 a year from the state – $93,000 in police disability pay and another $93,000 in salary as a chief investigator in the Division of Consumer Affairs.

· Michael Fantini retired on disability as a State Police trooper. Two years later, he was rehired by the State Police – apparently able to work – but the pension checks never stopped. While receiving a full-time salary for the past 14 years, Fantini has also pocketed $750,000 in disability pay.

A New Jersey Watchdog investigation found 18 state employees who double-dip $2.2 million a year – $1 million in tax-free accidental disability pay plus $1.2 million in salaries. (Click here for list.)
So far, those 18 employees – all law enforcement retirees – have drawn more than $5 million in disability pay since they returned to work in full-time state jobs for state government.

It is only the tip of what happens in a loophole-riddled police disability pension system that pays out $200 million a year.

The full story is now online at http://newjersey.watchdog.org. The direct link is http://newjersey.watchdog.org/2013/09/09/njs-disabled-double-dippers/.

NJ WATCHDOG: Reality TV Rumble Stars 'Disabled' Cop Inbox x

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Reality or Fake, Police Disability Pays!


On television, Joseph Derrico pursues a monster truck on foot, pulls the driver out of the vehicle and tosses him to the ground. He is on truTV's "Bear Swamp Recovery," a reality show on vehicle repos by the "baddest towing team in Jersey."

Yet Derrico collects a police disability pension of nearly $70,000 a year. In the eyes of the State of New Jersey, the retired Hamilton Township cop is "totally and permanently disabled" by a leg injury.

No stranger to trouble, Derrico was a criminal defendant when he retired in 2010. A Mercer County grand jury indicted Derrico on a felony charge of theft by receiving stolen property.

The patrolman escaped with his pension intact – thanks to a secretive deal with Mercer County Prosecutor Joseph Bocchini, who dropped the case when Derrico retired

If convicted, Derrico could have lost his pension. Instead, he has collected $180,000 in tax-free disability pay from the state Police and Firemen's Retirement System. If he reaches his life expectancy of age 80, Derrico's bad leg and behavior will be good for $2.5 million.

Bocchini claims his office has no record of the indictment or dismissal of charges against Derrico. In response, New Jersey Watchdog is suing the prosecutor in Mercer County Superior Court to produce the records or an explanation of why they no longer exist.

The Derrico case illustrates the inherent weaknesses of a $200 million a year disability pension system that's prone to abuse by police and firefighters in New Jersey.

Check out the full story – a joint investigation by New Jersey Watchdog (http://newjersey.watchdog.org) and NBC 4 New York – at http://newjersey.watchdog.org/2013/04/28/fake-or-reality/.

How NJ Cops 'Clean Up' on Disability Pensions

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TAXPAYER TRAUMA! HOW NJ COPS 'CLEAN UP' ON DISABILITY PENSIONS

Timothy Carroll retired at age 33. He claimed he was "totally and permanently" disabled by the trauma of seeing dead bodies while working as a sheriff's officer in Morris County, New Jersey.

The real shock is Carroll then started a business that cleans up gory crime scenes, a New Jersey Watchdog investigation found. Yet the state continues to pay him a disability pension for life, a sum that could total $1 million or more.

Carroll's company – Tragic Solutions LLC, of Linden – specializes in removing human residue from "bloody and/or messy" scenes, including "murder, suicide, accidental, natural and decomposing deaths," according to its web site.

"This says there is a problem with the whole pension system, the way the whole system is set up," said John Sierchio, a trustee of the state Police and Firemen's Retirement System. PFRS paid out $175 million to 5,067 disabled retirees in 2011 – figures expected to rise when 2012 data are released.

The supposedly career-ending incidents have included a fireman who fell out of bed while sleeping, an officer who fell off his chair while sitting down, cops who slipped on wet floors or icy sidewalks, and a patrolman who suffered emotional trauma because his lieutenant yelled at him during roll call.

In New Jersey, it's relatively easy to fake or exaggerate an injury to get a disability pension. The PFRS has no staff to investigate fraud. Nor do any of the state's five other retirement funds for public employees. The Tragic Solutions case illustrates how weak laws, red tape and lack of enforcement contribute to the woes of a state pension system that faces a shortfall of nearly $42 billion.

The complete story is now online at http://newjersey.watchdog.org. The story is also scheduled to air during tonight's 11 p.m. newscast on NBC 4 New York, which produced its story in cooperation with New Jersey Watchdog.

NJ Watchdog: NO MATTER WHO WINS OCEAN COUNTY ELECTION, TAXPAYERS LOSE

For Immediate Release


No matter who wins next month's election, the sheriff of Ocean County will still be a double-dipper – and maybe a pension millionaire.

Since 1986, Sheriff William Polhemus has pocketed $929,793 in pension pay in addition to his salary. He currently receives $165,941 a year – $122,669 in salary plus a $43,272 pension as retired Seaside Heights police chief.

Both of his election opponents – Independent Dennis McMenamin and Democrat George "Bob" Armstrong – also draw pensions as retired law enforcement officers.

McMenamin receives a $90,398 a year tax-free disability pension. As a Stafford Township police lieutenant, McMenamin was injured in a 2006 on-duty accident involving an all-terrain-vehicle.

While the state considers him to be "totally and permanently disabled," McMenamin contends his disability would not impair his ability to serve as sheriff.

Democrat Armstrong gets a modest state pension of $7,836 a year from his five years of service as investigator for the State Commission of Investigations and the Division of Criminal Justice.

The story is online at http://newjersey.watchdog.org

NJ Watchdog: WILL VOTERS LET ASSEMBLYMAN DAVE RIBLE ESCAPE $650K DISABILITY PENSION SCANDAL IN NOV. 8 ELECTION?

NJ Watchdog reporter Mark Lagerkvist has uncovered yet another case of pension abuse by a double-dipping member of the NJ State Assembly.

This time the person in question is Republican Minority Whip Assemblyman Dave Rible, who is currently running seeking reelection in the newly formed 30th Legislative District.

After 5 years on the job as a police officer in Wall Twsp. Rible was injured and filed for early retirement with a disability pension that would pay him $55,000 a year for life with no further questions asked.

Fast forward to today and it seem that Rible, who retired due to a back injury, is healthy enough to strenuously work out at a local gym, go dancing and run 5K races in under 30 minutes.

He doesn't seem disabled to me.

Assemblyman David P. Rible retired as a Wall Township police officer at age 31 with a bad back and a fat pension. He’s collected $650,000 in disability payments since a state board decided he was “totally and permanently disabled.”
Yet Rible competes in five-mile and five-kilometer runs along the Jersey Shore. He exercises at a gym, dances as a celebrity and hauls trash to the curb at his Monmouth County home, according to a New Jersey Watchdog investigation first published in June 2010.

Rible commutes to Trenton to represent the 11th District in the State Assembly, where he holds a leadership position as Republican Whip and seeks publicity as a tax-fighter. Now, he’s seeking election to the revamped 30th District, where he hopes voters in Monmouth and Ocean counties have forgotten the negative publicity.

In addition to his $49,000 salary as a legislator, Rible continues to receive a state disability pension that pays $55,000 a year – without a second look from authorities.

Now 44, Rible is set for life. If he lives until 80, he will pocket another $2.5 million from the state pension fund. That would raise Rible’s jackpot above $3 million, not including cost-of-living hikes or his medical coverage.

“I do oppose government waste, but I don’t see this as government waste,” said Rible, leaving his health club after a workout. “This is something that has been set forth in the rules of the pension.”

Those rules can be costly. Lottery-sized payouts threaten to break the back of New Jersey’s retirement and benefits system for public workers, struggling under the weight of $110 billion in projected debt. The state pension plans are short $46 billion, according to the most recent audit – plus retiree health benefits are underfunded by $64 billion.

A New Jersey Watchdog investigation of Rible’s case revealed how wasteful that system can be.

In 1988, Wall Township hired Rible as a patrolman. Five years later – on October 17, 1993 – the young officer was injured on the job. Rible later recalled the incident in his retirement application.

In his statement to the pension board, Rible said he and two other township detectives responded to an early morning noise complaint at a gravel pit. On foot, the officers pursued three men suspected of igniting fireworks and drinking alcohol. Rible stated he fell from an embankment during the chase and hurt his lower back.

Nearly four weeks later, Rible went to the police department’s physician with complaints of back pain. Eventually, in January 1998, he had back surgery.

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