A retired NYPD ​officer was busted by ​federal authorities Wednesday​, accused of bilking the government out of more than $300,000 in Social Security disability benefits — while working the past decade for luxury watchmaker and ret​​ailer Tourneau.

James Carson, 50, of Yorktown, should not have been working anywhere after claiming a hernia​​ted disc and other back problems forced him to leave the NYPD in 1990 and collect disability payments.

However, the feds discovered he’s been working for a Manhattan-based watchmaker since at least 2004, a criminal complaint​ revealed​. The company is not named, but a 2010 press release notes that Carson is director of loss prevention at Tourneau and even won a prestigious National Retail Foundation award for working on an “an investigation that broke up a retail crime syndicate in California.”

Since 1990, he has collected $654,537 in Social Security benefits – including $306,431 while employed at Tourneau, prosecutors said.

“It is particularly troubling when these types of crimes are committed by individuals who were once entrusted with upholding the law, and who are already receiving generous taxpayer financed pensions.” said Edward J. Ryan, an agent with Social Security Administration.

Carson reported to the SSA in April that he hasn’t worked since claiming disability, that he has is reliant on his wife to drive him places, and is routinely in excruciating agony.

When he attended the SSA interview, he was limping and walking with a cane, and he claimed in written forms that he always uses a cane, prosecutors said.

However, he walked out of court without using a cane Wednesday after appearing before a magistrate judge on charges of theft of government property, making false statements and failing to report income. He briefly hugged family members before exiting the courthouse at a rapid pace in a failed effort to dodge photographers.

He was released o​​n $600,000 bond and faces up to 20 years in jail. Both Carson and his lawyer declined comment.​ Tourneau did not immediately return a call for comment.​