NJ man who admitted insurance fraud in staged slip-and-fall denied PTI
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A Morris County man who pleaded guilty to insurance fraud after staging a slip-and-fall at a Woodbridge business has lost his court appeal of his denial into a pre-trial intervention program.
In 2019, Alexander Goldinsky, of Randolph, pleaded guilty to the charge after a Superior Court judge in Middlesex County rejected his application for the pre-trial intervention program which, if completed successfully, would have resulted in the charge being dismissed. Goldinsky was instead placed on two years’ probation and ordered to perform 14 hours of community service.
On Wednesday, an appellate court upheld the Superior Court judge’s ruling, writing “the rejection was neither unjust nor unfair.”
Goldinsky in 2018 faked a slip-and-fall accident in a cafeteria while working as an independent contractor in Woodbridge.
The case attracted widespread media attention after a surveillance video showed he filled a cup with ice, threw the ice on the floor, and laid on top of it. He was taken to the hospital and told medical personnel he had slipped, fallen and injured himself, knowing the information would be provided to his health insurance company which paid $563.49 to cover the ambulance bill, according to the court ruling.
Goldinsky also falsely claimed that he developed stuttering speech, suffered from constant headaches, started dropping items and experienced painful “frozen spasm sensations” and heavy eyelids because of the accident, according to the court ruling.
But a neurologist determined the symptoms were “mainly psychogenic” perhaps related to the stress of the trauma and were not due directly to brain injury or a concussion.
The neurologist’s bills were submitted to a workers compensation carrier which declined coverage because Goldinsky was an independent contractor, and not an employee, the ruling says.
Goldinsky incurred more than $23,000 in medical bills for his treatment.
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The ruling says he was charged by a Middlesex County grand jury with insurance fraud, health care fraud, theft by deception and attempted theft by deception and applied for admission to the pre-trial intervention program.
The program director recommended Goldinsky’s acceptance into the program because he had no prior criminal history, was 57 years old, divorced, in good mental health and remorseful about the crime, according to the ruling.
But the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office overruled the recommendation, saying that his acceptance would depreciate the seriousness of the crime.
The prosecutor’s office also noted Goldinsky’s “inability to acknowledge his wrongdoing and make amends,” which made him a poor candidate for the program.
The appellate court ruled Goldinsky did not prove that the rejection of his application was a “patent and gross abuse of discretion.”
Email: srussell@gannettnj.com
Suzanne Russell is a breaking news reporter for MyCentralJersey.com covering crime, courts and other mayhem. To get unlimited access, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
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