Nearly a decade ago, in October 2011, Preet Bharara, then serving as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced pension disability fraud charges against a number of individuals associated with the Long Island Railroad (LIRR). The complaint estimated a potential loss to the Railroad Retirement Board of more than $1 billion in unwarranted disability benefits.

The charges, and the guilty pleas and criminal convictions that resulted, see, e.g., U.S. v. Rutigliano, 790 F.3d 389 (2d Cir. 2015), apparently were followed by a decline in the number of LIRR employees being awarded disability benefits. See Alfonso Castillo, “LIRR disability claims down since fraud scandal,” Newsday (Sept. 22, 2018).