LAPD Officer Arrested On Suspicion Of Workers Compensation Fraud: What Types Of Fraud Are There?

Workers compensation fraud is no joke. And being accused of this type of fraud could land you in jail. Today, our workers compensation attorney in Los Angeles, California reviews a report that an LAPD officer was arrested on suspicion of workers comp fraud.

The police officer, John Bailey, was taken into custody after authorities investigated his workers compensation claim and suspected it to be fraudulent and deceiving. The claim, which was filed by Bailey earlier this year, allegedly misrepresented facts about his workplace injury.

The investigation was conducted by the LAPD’s Special Operations Division, Workers Compensation Fraud Unit, which issued the felony arrest warrant after finding evidence that Bailey knowingly committed workers comp fraud and received benefits under false pretenses.

Workers are not the only ones who commit fraud

We asked our workers compensation attorney in Los Angeles, William J. Kropach, to outline what types of workers comp fraud exist in California, and the attorney’s answer may surprise you.

Contrary to the popular belief, workers compensation fraud goes far beyond a dishonest employee faking his on-the-job injury or working a second job while receiving benefits for his/her claimed disability. Turns out, employers can commit fraud just as often as employees. Moreover, medical or healthcare providers have also been busted for committing workers comp fraud on numerous occasions.

For example, the most common type of workers comp fraud on the part of employers in Los Angeles and elsewhere in California is underreporting their employees’ salary to receive lower insurance premiums, while healthcare providers can charge their clients for unnecessary services or services that they never even provided.

Our best workers compensation lawyers in California at the Law Offices of Kropach & Kropach say that this type of fraud costs U.S. taxpayers and California as a whole billion of dollars annually, which is why the importance of understanding how different types of fraud work cannot be overstated.

Types of workers compensation fraud

Under California’s laws, a person or business can be accused of and arrested for workers comp fraud when there is evidence that someone knowingly misrepresented facts, provided false information or concealed certain information in order to receive benefits or prevent someone from receiving the benefits they are entitled to.

We asked our Los Angeles workers compensation lawyer William Kropach to identify the most common types of fraud on the part of the employee (claimant), employer, and healthcare provider.

Employees:

1. Faking or exaggerating the severity of a workplace injury;
2. Working a second job while claiming to be disabled, receiving benefits, and not reporting income;
3. Receiving workers compensation benefits for a job-related injury that never occurred;
4. Making it look as if the non-work related injury was a workplace injury;
5. And others.

Employers:

1. Underreporting payroll;
2. Misclassifying employees in order to receive lower premiums;
3. Deducting premiums from employees’ wages;
4. Willfully refusing to have necessary workers compensation coverage in place.

Healthcare providers:

1. Requesting unnecessary testing, procedures, or treatment of injured workers to obtain financial benefits;
2. Charging for services never performed;
3. Making both the workers comp insurer company and the workers health insurer pay for the same services.

These and many other types of workers compensation fraud exist in Los Angeles and all across California. If you believe that someone has committed this type of fraud or you have been accused of workers comp fraud, seek legal help immediately. Contact the Law Offices of Kropach & Kropach today to get a free consultation. Call at 818-609-7005 or complete this contact form.