A former U.S. postal worker admitted in federal court this morning that he defrauded the federal government out of $392,000 in workers’ compensation payments over the past 16 years.

David P. VanDeusen, 56, pleaded guilty to fraud in obtaining workers’ comp benefits.

VanDeusen went out on workers’ comp in 1991 with a back injury he says he suffered on the loading dock at the U.S. Postal Service’s distribution center on Taft Road.

To collect workers’ comp, he had to sign a form every year saying he was not collecting income from another job or a business he owned. He admitted in court that he falsely claimed he had no other income.

The Post-Standard (Syracuse, NY)

Note from PostalReporter.com: OWCP form CA 1032 states in part that “The kinds of services which you must report includes such activities as carpentry, mechanical work, painting, contracting, child care, odd jobs, etc. Report activities such as keeping books and records, or managing and/or overseeing a business of any kind, including a family business. Even if your activities were part-time or intermittent, you must report them.”