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A veteran Nassau County corrections officer allegedly turned a health insurance payout system into a personal piggy bank, stealing more than $110,000 that was supposed to cover his estranged wife’s back surgery.
Christopher Kowalewski, 49, of Merrick pleaded not guilty on Monday to grand larceny charges after he reportedly cashed in on benefits meant for medical providers, Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said.
Over a two-year span, the jail guard received 11 checks totaling $110,096 from United Healthcare, the administrator of the Empire Plan, the district attorney said.
Issued between December 2021 and December 2023, the checks ranged from $147 to $92,488 and were made payable to Kowalewski, the policyholder, according to authorities. They were sent to him following his estranged wife’s back surgery on March 2, 2022, and should have been forwarded to the service providers, Donnelly said.
But they never were, the prosecutor said.
Bank records revealed that nine of the 11 checks were deposited into a joint bank account held in Kowalewski’s name and another individual, and that the other two checks were cashed, Donnelly said. Kowalewski, a jail guard with the Nassau County Sheriff’s Department for two decades, allegedly spent the stolen funds on personal expenses.
“Public servants are entrusted with doing the right thing, and when they take advantage of the system for personal gain, it hurts everyone,” Donnelly said. “My office is committed to holding public servants accountable when they violate community trust and ignore their oaths.”
The case was referred to the prosecutor’s office by the Office of the Nassau County Inspector General.
“The mission of the Office of the Inspector General is to detect and deter fraud, waste, and abuse in Nassau County government,” said the inspector general, Jodi Franzese. “As this case illustrates, our office takes seriously allegations of fraudulent conduct by county employees.”
Kowalski was arraigned Monday before Judge Petrara Perrin and released on without bail. He faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
