First of all, don’t double dip the chips. Secondly, don’t double dip the U.S. taxpayer!
In 2019, Victoria Newell-Brown claimed that she was hurt from a fall while working at a Family Dollar store in Pennsylvania. Newell-Brown claimed she was totally disabled from the fall, so Family Dollar paid medical expenses, as well as worker’s compensation and wage-loss benefits for $1,500 every two weeks. Newell-Brown received that payment for more than two years.
However, in August 2019, while collecting those checks, Newell-Brown took a job at a restaurant in Delaware under the alias “Victora Stephens,” so that her Pennsylvania claims wouldn’t be discovered. Two months later, she reported she was hurt. Coincidently with the same injuries sustained in Pennsylvania. Funny how that happens. The restaurant’s insurer paid for her disability wage-loss benefits and Newell-Brown received checks for both “injuries” until 2021. To keep up the ruse, Newell-Brown/Stephens lied to her employers, healthcare providers, and judges about her health, work and medical history, and disability claim history.
In total, Newell-Brown received over $97,000 in worker’s compensation and wage-loss benefits and $5,600 for medical expenses. Fraud is an expensive scheme for more than just the taxpayer. One employer shelled out over $5,600 for Newell-Brown’s supposed medical expenses and an additional $70,000 in legal costs to challenge her claims.
This was not Newell Brown’s first rodeo. Her rap sheet dates to the 1980s, with a dozen prior convictions, most of which were felonies. Newell-Brown was sentenced to five to 10 years in prison in a Delaware County court on Monday, Feb. 26, the Attorney General’s Office said. She must also pay $170,655 in restitution.
Great job by the Workers’ Compensation Board in this investigation.
Today’s Fraud of The Day is based on article “Delaware Woman Sentenced 5-10 Years for Duping Employers in Workers’ Comp Fraud” published by BNN Breaking on February 27, 2024
In a significant workers’ compensation fraud case, Victoria Newell-Brown, a 56-year-old Delaware resident, has been handed a prison sentence of five to ten years by a Pennsylvania court. Newell-Brown admitted to feigning total disability from workplace injuries at two different employers, under two identities, to illicitly claim over $170,000 in benefits and medical expenses. The case underscores the vulnerabilities in the workers’ compensation system and the need for stringent checks to prevent fraud.
Newell-Brown’s fraudulent activities came to light following an investigation into her claims of being ‘totally disabled’ due to a fall at a Family Dollar store in Philadelphia in 2019. Under the name Victoria Stephens, she concurrently reported a similar injury while working at a Delaware restaurant, deceitfully receiving double benefits until 2021.
