Despite what many people may want to believe, stealing from the government is not a sustainable way to make end’s meet. NBC 4 in Ohio has the story of a handyman caught doing handy-work while collecting temporary total disability benefits from the state’s Bureau of Workers’ Compensation.
According to the report, the man’s disability claims were first called into question by an anonymous source. (What’s that old saying? Oh, yes: Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.) Following the tip, investigators shot a video that proved the source’s allegations true. As it turns out, the handyman had been collecting temporary disability for five years while he simultaneously ran a contracting business.
He was found guilty of workers’ compensation fraud, a felony, and ordered to repay nearly $75,000 that he illegally collected from the Ohio agency.
Temporary total disability is meant as a safety net for those who suffer on-the-job injuries so serious that they cannot work for a period of time, in order to return to a functional level. The amount of money this man fraudulently collected is almost 140 percent more than the median household income in the United States (Just to put that into perspective).
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