As one San Antonio man recently discovered, trying to stay one step ahead of the law oftentimes does not work out.
Texas Mutual Insurance Company reported that a Travis County district court sentenced Anthony Coleman Garza of San Antonio on workers compensation fraud-related charges. The court sentenced Garza to deferred adjudication, including two years probated, and ordered Garza to pay $7,497 in restitution to Texas Mutual.
Garza reported a job-related injury while working as a driver for B. Catalani Inc. of San Antonio. He claimed he was unable to work as a result of the injury, and Texas Mutual began paying income benefits to him.
Defendant Had 2 Jobs While Receiving Benefits
Texas Mutual uncovered evidence that Garza was self-employed operating a tree-trimming business and working for another company as a truck driver while receiving income benefits due to his alleged disability.
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. 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.
Author Kori Shafer-Stack, Editor, Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. is an expert in post-injury response procedures and part of the Amaxx team helping companies reduce their workers compensation costs by 20% to 50%. www.reduceyourworkerscomp.com. Contact: kstack@reduceyourworkerscomp.com.
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