Pair of Californians Charged in Alleged Workers Comp Scam

Two for the price of one.

As it turns out, Ventura County (Calif.) District Attorney Gregory Totten recently reported the filing of a felony complaint against Keri Atwood, 28, and Michael Atwood, 36, of Santa Paula. Both defendants are charged with committing workers compensation fraud and conspiracy. Keri Atwood is also charged with grand theft and burglary.

According to investigators, Keri Atwood, a civilian employee of the Ventura County Sheriff's Office, notified her supervisors that she suffered an injury to her left ankle. According to Keri Atwood, the injury took place when another employee accidentally struck the back of her foot with a mail cart. She was placed on Temporary Total Disability (TTD) status and obtained more than $29,000 in disability pay.

Seen Partaking in Physical Activity

The story continued to unfold as Keri Atwood used crutches or a wheelchair to get to her medical appointments. Once her medical appointments were done for the day, she was reportedly seen strolling freely minus the aid of crutches or a wheelchair.

She was also reportedly seen partaking in a number of physical activities that she had informed her treating physicians she could not perform. Michael Atwood drove Keri Atwood to her doctors' visits and was reportedly silent about her true physical condition.

The defendants were taken into custody on Feb. 7 by investigators from the California Department of Insurance.

If convicted, Keri Atwood faces a maximum sentence of nine years and eight months in county jail. Michael Atwood is looking at a maximum sentence of four years and four months in county jail.

Author Michael B. Stack, CPA, Director of Operations, Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. is an expert in employer communication systems and part of the Amaxx team helping companies reduce their workers compensation costs by 20% to 50%. He is a writer, speaker, and website publisher. www.reduceyourworkerscomp.com. Contact: mstack@reduceyourworkerscomp.com.