The Social Security Administration (SSA) is pretty clear about who can and cannot receive financial assistance from the government for a disability. (The SSA defines “disability” in this publication and states that the agency only pays for total disability.) An article posted on WKYC.com follows the story of a man who tried to scam the government by claiming total disability; however, in reality he was self-employed as a home repair contractor.
Social Security benefits are different from other benefit programs in that the agency will not pay for partial or short-term disability, only full disability. According to the story, the fraudster in this case stole more than $75,000 by lying to agency officials about being completely disabled while performing physical labor. (According to the SSA, a person is eligible for disability benefits if they are unable to do work they previously performed; cannot complete job duties due their medical condition; and, the disability is expected to last for at least one year or could result in death.)
Court documents show that the scam, which was intended to defraud both federal and state agencies out of approximately $350,000, occurred over 11 years. (In addition to stealing from the SSA, court documents allege that he also applied for and received nearly $270,000 from the Ohio Bureau of Worker’s Compensation.) The story states that the fraudster intentionally failed to disclose that he was self-employed because he knew it would disqualify him from receiving Social Security disability benefits.
The 53-year-old man pleaded guilty to 11 counts, including theft of government funds, wire fraud and fraudulently securing Social Security benefits. As a result, he was given a 30-month prison sentence.
This man did not adhere to the “all or nothing” requirements for receiving disability benefits. (Either the beneficiary is deemed completely disabled, or they get nothing.) He was definitely not completely disabled and because he engaged in what the SSA terms substantial gainful activity (SGA), he automatically disqualified himself from receiving benefits from the program. Because of his dishonesty, he will no longer receive any disability benefits and will have to serve time to pay for his crime. (He was all “in” for defrauding the government, but now he is left with nothing as a result.)
The post All or Nothing appeared first on Fraud of the Day.