In his application for disability benefits, John Caltabiano claimed he couldn’t drive, cook for himself, exercise at the gym, move around his house or even shave without help.

The New York man, 49, said he had lost his sight in a workplace accident at a cement company in 2006 and, since then, he bumps into things and hurts himself at home.

“I sit in the dark and listen to TV,” he wrote in his application.

On the date of his disability hearing in Hudson, New York, last fall, Caltabiano had his girlfriend lead him into the building.

But what he didn’t know was just a few days prior, investigators had caught Caltabiano on video appearing to be reading something. In another video, investigators had caught him driving a vehicle and then braking in time to avoid hitting a woman and child in the street.