Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation complaints
The state bureau of workers’ compensation receives about 5,000 allegations of fraud annually. The following is a breakdown of how they receive tips on fraudulent activity:
• Anonymous tips 10 %
• Fraud hotline 11%
• BWC employees 21%
• Automated Detection 37%
• Others 21%
MIDDLETOWN — A former Middletown man who was operating a home restoration business in Arizona while receiving disability benefits will have to pay $67,000 in restitution to the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation after being convicted of fraud.
Robert Harnage, 52, recently pleaded guilty to one count of workers’ compensation fraud, a fifth-degree felony. Harnage was ordered to pay restitution and was sentenced to five years probation, said Melissa Vince, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation. Harnage had a 12-month prison sentence suspended by the judge, she said.
“As this case proves, for those who abuse the system, the consequences will be severe,” Stephen Buehrer, BWC CEO and administrator, said in a news release.
The BWC Special Investigations Department opened a case against Harnage in February 2007 after receiving an anonymous tip through the agency’s Internet hotline. Investigators soon discovered that Harnage, who was receiving temporary total disability benefits for a work-related injury he suffered while in Middletown, owned and operated a business — Classic Home Restoration — in Sierra Vista, Ariz., according to the BWC.
Investigators also learned that the Arizona Registrar of Contractors had investigated Harnage’s activities and found him guilty of operating without a contractor’s license, according to the news release.
Vince said agents interviewed Harnage’s customers, who confirmed that he actively participated in the day-to-day operations of the business, including providing estimates for all jobs, assisting with physical labor and supervising his crew. Investigators also identified 149 checks written by customers to Harnage for his work.
Vince said that information conflicted with documents signed by Harnage stating that he understood that he could not work or operate a business while receiving disability benefits. She said evidence showed that over a three-year period, Harnage received disability benefits that he was ineligible for.
Harnage was indicted in September 2009, and an arrest warrant was issued when he failed to show up for court. The BWC’s Fugitive Task Force teamed with the Cochise Sheriff’s Department in Arizona to track down Harnage. He was arrested at work, Vince said.
The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation receives about 5,000 allegations of fraud annually, Vince said. In 2010, the agency closed more than 2,800 of those cases with about 1,400 of showing evidence of fraud.
The agency referred 240 cases for criminal prosecution and secured 146 convictions in 2010, Vince said. More than $66 million in workers’ compensation fraud was identified by the agency last year, she said.
For more information or to report workers’ compensation fraud, visit ohiobwc.com, or call (800) 644-6292.