In pursuit of fairness – #FraudWeek 2017

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Columbus,OH(WorkersCompensation.com) - I have always appreciated the importance of fairness and integrity. I have used these virtues as a guide throughout my career, from early on when I supervised 15 employees at a small manufacturing company, to my 25 years with the Ohio State Highway Patrol and now as head of the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation's Special Investigations Department.

I am privileged to lead 122 professionals who work to deter, detect and investigate workers' compensation fraud in the state of Ohio. We pursue cases of claimant, medical provider and employer fraud.

What drives a claimant to file a false claim; an employer to purposely misclassify their workers; or a physician to fudge paperwork to secure higher service payments? We can debate the reasons, and they probably vary in each case, but my drive to halt wrongdoing comes from an appreciation for standards, rules and enforcement of the law that are conducted uniformly, fairly and systematically. In short, I want to know that others are following the same rules you and I follow.

It is easy to translate this philosophy into the world of workers' compensation when you think about employer premiums, medical services and protection of our injured workers. Injured workers deserve a fair system that's focused on their care and recovery. Employers want their competitors to play by the same rules, and they want assurance that any employee who attempts to gain undeserved benefits will be held accountable. And we all want truthful and professional physicians delivering our medical care.

These are among the many reasons I count fairness and integrity among the most important qualities you'll find in a person. Treat people fairly, and treat them the way you want to be treated. Our integrity is on the line when we don't accept the responsibility and tell the truth. Once trust is lost, it's likely gone forever. I'm sure many of you feel the same.

A Marion man who claimed to be permanently disabled owes the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation (BWC) $160,000 after pleading guilty Wednesday to a fourth-degree felony charge of workers' compensation fraud.

Appearing in a Franklin County courtroom, Jimmie Rankin, 45, was also sentenced to five years of community control for collecting BWC benefits after he had gone back to work in the construction industry and deliberately withheld that information from BWC.

“We found Mr. Rankin working as a subcontractor and getting paid with cash and checks made out to other people so he could avoid a paper trail and stay beneath our radar,” said Jim Wernecke, director of BWC's Special Investigations Department. “But thanks in part to tips from honest citizens, we were able to stop this fraud and bring Mr. Rankin to justice.”

Working with Rankin's employers, investigators determined Rankin had been employed at least since March 2011, a little more than three years after his workplace injury and while he was collecting temporary disability benefits. He later secured permanent total disability benefits from BWC and, while working, collected those benefits from June 2012 to May 2016.

A judged warned Rankin that if he violates the terms of his community control, he would serve 18 months in prison.

 

To report suspected workers' compensation fraud, call 1-800-644-6292 or visit bwc.ohio.gov.

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We take great care to protect the dollars Ohio employers set aside to care for their injured workers. We're not too shy to say we think we do a pretty good job, but we're always seeking improvement. That's why we enjoy taking part in International Fraud Awareness Week each year. We're not only able to highlight our successes, but also engage and learn from our fraud-fighting peers across the country. This year will be no different.

Those of you who follow workers' comp fraud in Ohio know we share our fraud news weekly on “Fraud Friday,” but we always take it to another level during IFAW. Please join us this week and all year long as we share new cases, tips for identifying and preventing fraud, insights from our investigators, and much more on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

Happy Fraud Awareness Week!

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