Acting New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin indicted a New Jersey landscape business owner in a case of alleged state employment benefits fraud. The charge is the result of a joint investigation with the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (NJDOL).

The acting New Jersey Attorney General indicted Richard Hockenberry, 71, of Hawthorne, N.J., on a charge of fourth-degree failure to provide workers’ compensation coverage for an employee injured on the job. As a result, the New Jersey Uninsured Employer’s Fund paid temporary disability benefits, medical benefits, counsel and other fees totaling $194,582.

According to the allegations against Hockenberry, on Feb. 26, 2018, a Rick Hockenberry Landscaping employee suffered an injury during employment. On May 4, 2018, the victim filed a workers’ compensation claim petition. During the course of the workers’ compensation case, investigators discovered Hockenberry failed to carry workers’ compensation insurance coverage, as required by law, at the time of the accident.

“We’re working hard to stop criminals from illegally siphoning money from New Jersey’s employment insurance benefits,” said Acting Attorney General Platkin. “These are crimes against the taxpayers who fund the benefits, and against honest New Jersey workers who count on these benefits to sustain them financially when their jobs are lost through no fault of their own or when they suffer injuries at work.”