A popular book character in a children’s series follows a man who travels around the world with a variety of items to assist in his adventures. It is the reader’s job to search extremely detailed illustrated pages to find the lost traveler and the items he leaves behind as clues related to his location. (Sometimes, the character is hiding in plain view.) An article posted on BusinessInsurance.com tells about a woman who is suspected of trying to hide from law enforcement’s view by allegedly assuming one of her twin daughters’ identities.
The story states that the woman purportedly applied for a job at a local fast food chain restaurant using the personal identification information for one of her twin daughters. (She got the job and worked alongside her other twin daughter who called her mother by her twin sister’s name to further substantiate the claim.) Supposedly, the mother injured her leg while on the job at the fast food restaurant shortly after beginning work. After receiving treatment for the injury at a local hospital, the mother filed a workers’ compensation claim using her daughter’s identity.
Following the disability claim submission, investigators discovered the mother was already receiving disability benefits for a similar injury from the Social Security Administration at the time when she applied for a job at the fast food restaurant. (According to the Georgia State Board of Workers’ Compensation Enforcement Division, when arrested the mother presented her daughter’s ID as proof of her identification. The daughter who worked with her at the fast food establishment also allegedly confirmed with officials that her mother was her sister.)
The mother was arrested on workers’ compensation and aggravated identity fraud and other felony charges. The story also mentions that her co-worker daughter has not been arrested, but is wanted for other unrelated crimes.
The article mentions that this case is still under investigation with the final outcome to be determined. It is critical to note that this woman is presumed innocent.
What the facts alleged in this particular case illustrate are that deceptive acts occur all the time, in everyday situations, right in plain view. By reporting anonymous tips involving government fraud, waste and abuse, you can help the government operate more efficiently, be instrumental in changing laws governing fraud and assist in criminal prosecutions, all while saving taxpayer dollars.
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