Pesky Fraudsters

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There are lots of pesky things that are bothersome such as ants who invade your kitchen counters and termites who silently eat away at your home’s foundation. Fortunately, there are chemical solutions to both of these problems—any local exterminator can put an end to these pesky critters. The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) had to recently deal with a pest of another kind. A man collecting injured worker’s benefits from the state agency was also secretly working another job at the same time. (That’s a definite no-no.)

After the agency received a tip, the Special Investigations Department determined that the man was also working for a local pest control company while receiving approximately $5,000 in a workers’ compensation benefits due to a reported injury. (I bet that really bugged the BWC. Benefits are supposed to be paid to workers who have been injured on the job, and as a result are not able to work or earn an income.)

The 57-year-old pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of workers’ compensation fraud. He was sentenced to 180 days in jail, but the judge suspended the sentence and gave him one year of community control, or probation. He was also ordered him to pay restitution of $5,000 to his employer. (The article did state that he had already paid back $2,023.)

This man did not simply make a mistake when filling out his workers compensation claim forms. He intended to conceal his pest control job from the BWC and his employer who has to pay into the insurance program. (This criminal got lucky and didn’t have to serve any jail term; it remains to be seen whether his employer will rid the company of this pest.)

Source: Today’s ”Fraud of the Day” is based on an article entitled, ”Grove City man worked for pest control company while on workers’ comp,” published by the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation on June 17, 2016.

A Grove City man who was off work and collecting injured worker’s benefits from his employer now must pay his employer back after investigators with the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation discovered him secretly working another job.

Terry Shaver, 57, pleaded guilty June 8 in the Franklin County Common Pleas Court to a misdemeanor count of workers’ compensation fraud. A judge ordered Shaver to pay his employer $5,000 in restitution and sentenced him to 180 days in jail. The judge suspended the jail sentence and sentenced Shaver to one year of community control.

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Larry Benson, Senior Director of Strategic Alliances, LexisNexis Risk Solutions - Government

Larry Benson is responsible for developing strategic partnerships and solutions for the government vertical. His expertise focuses on how government programs are defrauded by criminal groups, and the approaches necessary to prevent them from succeeding.

Mr. Benson has 30 years of experience in sales and business development. Before joining LexisNexis® Risk Solutions, he spent 12 years founding and managing two software technology startups. During the 1990s he spent 10 years as a Regional Director helping to grow a New England-based technology company from 300 employees to 7,000. He started his career with Martin Marietta Aerospace working on laser guided weapons and day/night vision systems.

A sought-after speaker and accomplished writer, Mr. Benson is the principal author of “Fraud of the Day,” a website dedicated to educating government officials about how criminals are defrauding government programs. He has co-authored WTF? Where’s the Fraud? How to Unmask and Stop Identity Fraud’s Drain on Our Government, and Data Personified, How Fraud is Changing the Meaning of Identity.

Benson holds a Bachelor of Science in Physics from Albright College, and earned two graduate degrees – a Master of Business Administration from Florida Institute of Technology, and a Master of Science in Engineering from Lehigh University.