Claimant Leaves Texas But Can’t Evade Fraud Team

Austin, TX (CompNewsNetwork) - Texas Mutual Insurance Company reported today that a Travis County district court sentenced a Los Fresnos, Texas man on workers’ compensation fraud-related charges.

The court sentenced Frank Tisdale to five years’ probation. It also ordered him to pay $6,849 in restitution to Texas Mutual Insurance Company, $1,380 in extradition costs necessary to return him to Texas from Georgia for prosecution, and a $300 fine.

Tisdale reported a job-related injury while working as a market clerk for Richann Ltd., a grocery store in McAllen, Texas.  He claimed he was unable to work as a result of the injuries, and Texas Mutual Insurance Company began paying him disability income benefits.

Meanwhile, Texas Mutual uncovered evidence that Tisdale was working as a butcher in a Georgia grocery store while receiving disability income benefits. Investigators call this type of scam double-dipping because the claimant collects benefits for being too injured to work when he or she is, in fact, gainfully employed. Texas law requires claimants to contact their workers’ comp carrier when they return to work.

Left unchecked, double-dipping and other workers’ comp fraud can lead to higher premiums for all Texas employers.

Texas Mutual Insurance Company is the state’s leading provider of workers’ compensation insurance. In 2007, the company saved or recovered more than $6.7 million through its zero tolerance for fraud program.

Share This Article: