A letter from Jim Wernecke – Director of BWC Special Investigations

As Director of the BWC Special Investigations Department (SID), I am honored to kick off Fraud Awareness Week. I invite you to view my video message, “Fraud Hurts Us All.”

In the video I discuss how workers’ compensation fraud increases premiums for employers, which reduces the money employers can invest in their employees, community and future growth. I explain how BWC employees are improving workplace health and safety, getting injured workers back to work, and keeping premium rates low for employers. I describe how SID employees protect the State Insurance Fund by detecting, investigating, and deterring fraud.

Lastly, I invite viewers to report, via an online form, suspected workers’ compensation fraud.

I also invite you to check back daily as we share success stories in our efforts to combat workers’ comp. fraud. Some stories we will highlight are:

• Southwest Ohio business owner gets prison time, hefty fine for work comp fraud: Business owner defrauded BWC of $425K
• Akron pain doc guilty of workers’ comp fraud: False billing cited in felony case
• Prison, hefty restitution ordered for Cleveland fraudster: Contractor collected $246K in disability from BWC, Social Security
• Pataskala man owes BWC $41,000 after felony conviction
• Logan County man sentenced for workers’ comp fraud

We would not have achieved these successes without the dedicated staff members who serve our department with great skill, resourcefulness, and determination to bring justice to those who cheat our system. Their efforts create safer workplaces and ensure those who attempt to commit fraud in workers’ compensation are held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. Since our inception in 1993, we have identified over $1.9 billion in savings, as well as:

• Completed over 69,000 investigations
• Referred 5,420 subjects for prosecution
• Secured 2,941 criminal convictions

We are honored and eager to join our fraud-fighting colleagues around the country and abroad each November to participate in International Fraud Awareness Week.

The campaign, which runs through Saturday, was established by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners to highlight the issue of fraud and minimize its impacts.

Most weeks, you’ll find us sharing our fraud news on #FraudFriday. But this week, we’ll have a new fraud feature each day! So keep an eye here on our blog and on our Facebook and Twitter pages!

Happy Fraud Awareness Week!