Ohio BWC Fraud Friday

Columbus, OH (WorkersCompensation.com) — TGIF… except for workers' compensation criminals in the Buckeye state.

Every Friday, the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation releases details of the most recent residents who have unsuccessfully attempted to cheat the system. Today, The BWC blog reported on a slew of work comp criminals ranging from a set of siblings to a tree cutter.

Dan Fodor, assistant director of the BWC Special Investigations Department, described the many ways criminals deceive the system. "You have to know the system to know how to beat the system. If we figure it out, I am sure somebody on the outside is trying to get a dollar they don't deserve," he said.  

One such culprit was the manager of illegal gambling storefront Surf's Up Cyberlounge. Jennifer Gardner, of Toledo, admitted she was guilty of workers’ compensation fraud March 21, confessing to collecting benefits while employed. A four-month suspended jail term, five years of community control and $7,645 in restitution is how Gardner will pay back her crimes against the BWC.  

Meanwhile, a former northeast coal miner will have to reimburse $40,514 to the bureau that recently ordered full restitution of the funds. According to Fodor, investigators found Steven Kornbau, of Mahoning Country, falsifying employment papers in order to gain cash benefits received between December 2014 and April 2016.

Creating a false company named Anderson's Windows and Doors, Kornbau sent in "phony payroll records," to the bureau. The BWC Special Investigations Department became suspicious the summer of 2015 and Kornbau was caught. Along with monetary reimbursement, Kornbau must also serve five years of community control. 

A sister and brother team out of Fulton County were sentenced March 17 for unlawfully receiving up to $6,657 in BWC benefits on behalf of their deceased father. Cecilia Williams and James Miller pleaded guilty last year in the Fulton County Court of Common Pleas to the fraud, with Williams confessing she used her deceased father's debit card to confiscate his benefits after his death.

She was sentenced to two years of community control and mandated to take theft education classes. Her brother was also sentenced March 17, and according to the bureau, both have already paid restitution.

Lastly, Akron tree trimmer Matthew Mueller faces yet another charge of owing the BWC more than $17,000 in restitution following his guilty plea last month.

It's not his first time trying cheat the system, Mueller was convicted of similar charges stemming back to 2005, Fodor said, noting they reached out to the Special Investigations Department after a 2012 tip that Mueller was intentionally under-reporting his payroll.

"We do recurring detection runs to see if they [criminals] are in fact still in our system and possibly doing a similar crime. We look for trends in our own data. If they did it in the past, what is going to stop them from something similar?" Fodor said of Mueller, who must serve two years of community control and probation and reimburse $17,366 back to the BWC.

According to Foder, the game kind of changes over time "based on technology and the ability to create some good-looking documents." He likens it to playing with pawns. "It's kind of like a game of chess to where we know how many moves to take, but at the same time, the criminal is going to make moves we are going to counter," Fodor said.

A copy of the 2016 BWC Annual Fraud Report depicts all the successful  moves made by the bureau last year.

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