Crime & Courts

Anchorage man gets 2 1/2 years for faking injuries to collect disability checks

Prosecutors said a 57-year-old Anchorage man faked injuries in order to collect disability checks over five years, claiming he was unable to work while still engaging in activities including dipnet fishing.

Amancio Zamora Agcaoili Jr. was sentenced Wednesday in federal court to 2 1/2 years in prison on charges of fraud and theft of government funds, according to court documents.

"Thirty months in prison will serve as a deterrent to others who are tempted to try similar scams. Agcaoili cheated every one of us when he lied about his injuries and his inability to work in order to receive hundreds of thousands of dollars in workers' compensation and disability payments," said Kevin Feldis, first assistant U.S. attorney.

U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason ordered Agcaoili to pay $365,831 in restitution to the government and forfeit $14,141 in cash that had been seized from his home, prosecutors said.

For at least five years, between 2009 and 2014, Agcaoili carried out the scheme. He was charged with 18 counts about a year ago and pleaded guilty to fewer charges in December.

According to a federal indictment, Agcaoili filed a claim for an on-the-job lower back injury while working as an employee of the U.S. Postal Service. He also filed for workers' compensation, which was approved. He received the payments "by engaging in a scheme to defraud the federal government about the nature and extent of his injury and about the other work he was performing and income he was receiving," prosecutors said.

At a doctor's appointment in July 2009, he described the pain from his lower back as "unbearable and constant," according to the indictment. He maintained his suffering was exacerbated by a list of physical activities: sitting, standing, walking and changing weather conditions, he allegedly said.

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Less than two weeks later, he went dipnetting for salmon in Chitina, a community on the west bank of the Copper River, and caught 20 red salmon. About a week later, Agcaoili went on another successful fishing trip on the Kenai River, catching 35 red salmon, the indictment says.

"Agcaoili went dipnetting and fishing every year on the Copper River and the Kenai River, went dancing and sledding, and took vacations to Hawaii, Canada, and the Philippines," prosecutors said.

In addition to maintaining that he was disabled, Agcaoili also lied about his employment. Prosecutors say he claimed not to be working when he was collecting income by preparing immigration paperwork and tax returns for hundreds of people out of an office located behind his house.

Jerzy Shedlock

Jerzy Shedlock is a former reporter for Alaska Dispatch News. He left the ADN in 2017.

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