Affidavit: Postal worker forged doctor's notes, faked cancer diagnosis to use sick time

AURORA, Colo. – A United States Postal Service employee is facing a number of fraud charges in connection to allegations that she faked a cancer diagnosis in order to use hundreds of hours of sick time.

According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by Denver7, Caroline Boyle, 59, an employee at the USPS Customer Products and Fulfillment Category Management Center in Aurora, used a total of 112 days of sick time by forging doctor’s notes.

In 2016, a review of Boyle’s work email revealed a doctor’s note from June 25, 2015 that appeared to be fake because the doctor’s name was misspelled, the affidavit states. The note said Boyle was receiving treatment for lymphoma at Anova Cancer Center in Lone Tree.

When an agent with the USPS Office of Inspector General contacted Anova in June 2016, administrators confirmed that Boyle was not a patient there and that the note was forged due to the lack of a medical license number. Further review of Boyle’s emails revealed several more fake doctor’s notes from Anova and another from Rocky Mountain Cancer Centers in Lone Tree, the affidavit states.

Again, administrators at the cancer center confirmed that Boyle was not a patient there and that the doctor’s note was fabricated.

Inspectors also confirmed with Boyle’s health insurance provider that she was not a patient at either facility and had not received any kind of cancer treatment since her coverage began in 2010.

When postal inspectors executed a search warrant at Boyle’s home in February, she confessed to forging the doctors’ signatures and fabricating four doctor’s notes and admitted they were used to take 896 total hours in sick time, according to the affidavit.

Boyle was indicted on charges of forged writings, possession of false papers to defraud the United States, and wire fraud.

Boyle was released on $10,000 bond with orders to surrender her passport and not leave the state of Colorado without permission; the court will allow Boyle to travel to Hawaii for a cruise vacation in June.

Boyle has been an employee of USPS since October 1991.