Ohio Man Sentenced for Fraudulently Collecting Workers’ Comp Benefits

A Toledo (Lucas County) man has been sentenced in Ohio for fraud after he was convicted of illegally collecting workers’ compensation dependent death benefits.

Timothy Williams Jr. pleaded guilty to one count of workers’ compensation fraud, a fifth-degree felony, Jan. 3 in a Franklin County courtroom following an investigation by the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) Special Investigations Division (SID) that revealed he misrepresented himself as a full-time college student in order to continue collecting dependent death benefits.

The investigation into Williams began in October 2009 when the Toledo SID office received an internal referral from a BWC customer services specialist who became suspicious of paperwork submitted by Williams seeking dependent death benefits. Children who lose a parent due to a workplace accident can continue dependence, and eligibility for dependent death benefits, until age 25 if they are enrolled in college and provide proof of full-time enrollment.

SID reviewed Williams’ records and discovered that he claimed to be a full time student, making him eligible for benefits, although he was in fact not attending college on a full-time basis. SID confirmed that Williams was enrolling in classes at Owens Community College but subsequently dropping the classes, making him a part-time student.

As a result, Williams misrepresented his enrollment status and improperly collected benefits from the spring semester of 2008 to the fall semester of 2009. When confronted, Williams admitted that he purposely did not notify BWC when he dropped classes because he knew he would not qualify for benefits.

Timothy Williams was sentenced to a suspended sentence of eight months incarceration, placed on community control for four years and ordered to pay restitution of $9,295 and $500 investigative costs. As a condition of probation, he was ordered to return to school, continue full-time employment and undergo random drug and alcohol tests. If Williams does not meet these conditions, he must serve 350 hours of community service.

Source: Ohio BWC