Postal Worker Sentenced To 6 Months For $200k Worker's Compensation Scam

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - Fake panic attacks have given a Bronx woman something to really worry about.

A USPS employee convicted of stealing almost $200,000 in Workers' Compensation Benefits had been sentenced to six months in prison. Maria Chmielewski has also been ordered to pay retribution.

Chmielewski falsely claimed she was too panicked to leave her home, prosecutors said.

"The defendant claimed to be a 'prisoner of her own home' to defraud the government of tax-free benefits meant to help those truly unable to work," Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark said. "Now she must serve time in jail. We will not tolerate rip-offs of government benefits."

Chmielewski, a USPS worker since 2004, received workers' compensation for post-traumatic stress disorder, panic disorder and agoraphobia since 2008, prosecutors said. Despite receiving 75% of her salary for that, she took two cruises to Alaska and Canada, completed a nurse training program, and was spotted driving.

She was arrested in 2014 and convicted of grand larceny and insurance fraud.