Many people who commit workers’ compensation fraud probably dream about what they will do with all of the money they will illegally collect by working while claiming to be injured. (Visions of luxury vehicles, shopping sprees and vacations abound for sure.) A swimming pool contractor and a window worker are the latest to have their bubbles burst after being caught by the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) for collecting workers’ compensation benefits they did not deserve.
The pool contractor who provided pool inspections, repair and new build estimates, supervised and managed the construction and repair of pools and other related duties, actually worked as a laborer while collecting injured workers’ benefits. (Maybe he was going to use the extra cash to build himself a pool.)
The swimming pool contractor was investigated after a claims service specialist became suspicious. The 43-year-old man ended up pleading guilty to workers’ compensation fraud for continuing to collect benefits he was not entitled to. He must pay the BWC $5,642 in restitution and an additional $50 court fine for his fraudulent actions.
The other man mentioned in today’s ”Fraud of the Day” article was a window worker who also illegally collected workers’ compensation benefits. A tip enabled the BWC’s Special Investigations Department to review records and interview witnesses regarding the 52-year-old defendant. He will also have to pay the BWC restitution in the amount of $1,836 and serve two years of community control, which will terminate after he pays full restitution and court costs.
These two fraudsters may have been swimming in extra paychecks to start out, but now there’s a good chance that they are drowning in debt while trying to pay back the money they stole. (It looks like the government threw them a life preserver this time. Hopefully, the next time they are tempted to steal from the government, they’ll choose higher ground.)
Source: Today’s ”Fraud of the Day” is based on an article entitled, ”Two Central Ohio Men Guilty in Workers’ Comp Fraud Cases,” posted on WorkersCompensation.com on September 6, 2016.
Columbus, OH (WorkersCompensation.com) – A Columbus swimming pool contractor and a window worker from Lancaster pleaded guilty last week to misdemeanor counts of workers’ compensation fraud for continuing to work while collecting injured workers’ benefits.
Kash M. Marzetti, 43, had to pay BWC $5,642 in restitution and a $50 court fine as part of his sentence Aug. 22 in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas.
