Tips can be helpful to individuals who are interested in making things easier. For example, when preparing to cook for a large number of people, it’s a good idea to read through a recipe and understand all instructions. Here’s a helpful tip that could have prevented an Ohio truck driver from cooking up a workers’ compensation fraud scheme that went bad: don’t lie about a workplace injury you had more than a decade ago just so you can collect benefits you don’t deserve. (If he had only been honest, he could have avoided this fraud recipe for disaster.)
The truck driver from Ohio reported that he sustained an on-the-job injury in 2008. He qualified for and began receiving temporary disability benefits from the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC). Fast forward nine years to 2017, when the BWC received a tip that the injured truck driver was actually employed and working for at least seven months during the time that he was receiving workers’ compensation benefits. (To put it in trucker terms, that’s almost like running a red light and side-swiping another vehicle. No one got hurt, but the driver is most definitely in trouble with the law.)
The BWC Special Investigations department looked into the matter and found that the reported tip was true. The truck driver who misled the BWC about the extent of his injuries was subsequently convicted of workers’ compensation fraud.
The 46-year-old from Marysville, Ohio received a suspended sentence of one year in jail. He must pay restitution of $22,851 to the BWC and serve probation for five years or until the restitution was paid. (Here’s another helpful tip for today’s fraudster: don’t try this workers’ compensation fraud scam again, because it’s a sure bet that the judge will not go easy on him the next time around.)
Today’s “Fraud of the Day” is based on an article, “Truck Driver to Pay Back More than $20,000 After Busted in Workers’ Comp Scam,” published by Transportation Nation on August 26, 2019.
An Ohio truck driver was convicted of workers’ compensation fraud last Wednesday after the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) discovered he engaged in a 7-month scheme in 2017 to collect BWC benefits for a workplace injury he suffered more than a decade ago.
On Wednesday, August 21, 2019, Everett Ferryman, 46, of Marysville, Ohio, pleaded guilty in a Franklin County courtroom to a fifth-degree felony count of workers’ compensation fraud.
The judge ordered Ferryman to pay BWC $22,851 in restitution and serve probation for five years or until restitution was paid, whichever came first.
