Psyche Worker Shoved by Patient Cleared of WC Fraud Charges

Friday, December 14, 2018 | 0

A mental health worker in Maine who said he lived through torture in Iran only to be charged with workers' compensation fraud in the U.S. has been cleared of charges.

This still shot from a Riverview Psychiatric Center surveillance camera was a courtroom exhibit in the case and shows Ahmad Khansari Nejad, center, being shoved by a patient in white, left.

Ahmad Khansari Nejad, 61, was found not guilty Wednesday of falsely claiming injuries that resulted in $11,000 in benefits, the local newspaper reported.

Nejad filed the claim in January after he was shoved in the back by a patient at the state-run Riverview Psychiatric Center in Augusta, Maine. He said he fell to the ground and suffered severe pain and swelling.

A surveillance video from the mental health center, played in court, showed that Nejad never fell to the ground and recovered his balance quickly. A judge ruled Wednesday, though, that the shove was a substantial blow, and that Nejad may have believed he hit the ground.

“I cannot find beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant acted with intention to defraud or deceive the state," Justice William Stokes said in delivering the verdict in the bench trial.

"To me, that is a very forceful shove,” the judge said. “He’s taken by surprise. I certainly don’t think he anticipated this coming. Hands are laid on him. It’s a very quick movement. He stumbles across the floor. He is headed toward the floor and is able to get himself upright and turns around.”

Nejad testified that he was born in Iran and was jailed and tortured for three years for political activism. He eventually moved with his family to the United States.

After being charged with fraud, his family moved to Niagara Falls, New York. His wife was a nurse manager at Riverview and said she felt pressured to leave her job, the newspaper reported.