Texas Mutual Insurance Co. reported a woman, man have been convicted of workers’ compensation fraud in two separate cases. The workers’ compensation insurer said Sharon Boachie of Arlington and Larry Toliver of Knox City were sentenced in Travis County district court. According to Texas Mutual, Boachie reported a job-related injury while working as a cashier for Ad A Staff Inc., in Mansfield, Texas, and claimed she was unable to work because of her injury. Texas Mutual began paying income benefits to her, but then discovered Boachie was working elsewhere.
Investigators call this type of scam double dipping because the claimant collects benefits for being too injured to work when he or she is, in fact, gainfully employed. The court sentenced Boachie to a Class A misdemeanor with one-year probation. She paid $3,072.14 in restitution to Texas Mutual. Toliver reported a job-related injury while working as an oil field production worker for Hartoil Corporation in Big Spring, Texas, and claimed he was unable to work because of the injury, the insurer said. Texas Mutual began paying income benefits to him, but then discovered Toliver was working as an oil field production worker for another company. The court sentenced Toliver to a Class A misdemeanor with five years deferred adjudication. He will pay $11,490 in restitution to Texas Mutual.
Both cases were handled by the Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation, prosecutor in Travis County. Texas law requires claimants to contact their workers’ comp carrier when they return to work. Left unchecked, double-dipping and other workers’ comp fraud can lead to higher premiums for all Texas employers.