Facebook Postings Help Catch Workers’ Comp Cheaters
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- If you're cheating the government, watch what you share on social media websites. A Port Clinton woman learned that the hard way, and now she has to repay more than $61,000 in benefits she wrongly collected from the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation.
"As social media has grown, BWC investigators have deployed enhanced analysis of these sites to support our investigations," said administrator Steve Buehrer. "Our fraud team has proven very resourceful when it comes to ensuring dishonest employers, workers and providers do not escape detection."
Kelley Wheeler of Port Clinton pleaded guilty to Workers' Compensation fraud in a Franklin County courtroom May 16 after her Facebook postings helped prove she was working while collecting benefits for a workplace injury. She was ordered to repay the $61,213.72 she collected fraudulently. In addition to paying restitution, the judge fined her $500 and court costs as well as 17 months in jail, the time in jail suspended for five years of community control.
Wheeler was receiving working wage loss, which is available to injured workers who have found work other than their former position but receive less in pay than they did at the time of injury. The BWC's special investigations department opened an investigation after receiving an allegation from a BWC claims services specialist who became suspicious of the employment documentation Wheeler submitted to qualify for these benefits.
The investigation showed Wheeler submitted 64 false payroll documents indicating that she worked at a Travelers Transport in Port Clinton, a business that never existed. Investigators found Wheeler created timesheets and submitted them to BWC to qualify for benefits. Investigators also found she was employed at Purrfect Paws Grooming Boutique in Sandusky and failed to report those wages, which were necessary to properly calculate her benefits.
The department's digital forensics team also obtained photos and postings from the Wheeler's Facebook page that showed working at Purrfect Paws. Additional postings and pictures from the Purrfect Paws Facebook page showed Wheeler at work when she was receiving disability.
When interviewed, Wheeler admitted the payroll documents she submitted from Travelers Transport were false and that she purposely did not report her earnings from Purrfect Paws. She acknowledged knowing what she was doing was wrong but did not want to lose the benefits.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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