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Alexander Goldinsky was 57 and working as a subcontractor when he was caught on surveillance footage dropping ice on the floor of a Woodbridge cafeteria and lying on top of it in an attempt to collect fraudulent insurance money, authorities said.
Goldinsky claimed to have developed several neurological impairments following the staged incident — but the ailments were disproven by a neurologist, who stated that they were "mainly psychogenic" and possibly stress-related, DailyRecord reports citing court records.
After being denied workers’ compensation coverage due to his status as a contractor, Goldinsky received more than $23,000 in medical bills.
Goldinsky pleaded guilty to insurance fraud in 2019 and was sentenced to two years of probation and 14 hours of community service after being denied entrance by a Middlesex County Superior Court judge into a pre-trial intervention program that would have scrapped the charges after completion.
An appellate court backed the judge’s initial ruling stating that "the rejection was neither unjust nor unfair."
Despite being recommended to the PTI by the program’s director, who cited Goldinsky’s age, mental state and lack of criminal history, the suggestion was overruled by the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office, who claimed that it would minimize the man’s wrongdoing and the crime’s seriousness.
Goldinsky was also considered an unsuitable candidate due to his "inability to acknowledge his wrongdoing and make amends," the prosecutor’s office said.
Ultimately, Goldinsky neglected to prove "patent and gross abuse of discretion” in regards to his rejection from the PTI program, the appellate court determined.
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