Trucking Company Owner Must Pay $144,400 in Restitution

Tuesday, April 16, 2019 | 0

The owner of an Ohio trucking company was sentenced to two years of probation and must pay $144,400 in restitution for failing to obtain workers' compensation insurance on his employees.

Robert Tate
(Ohio BWC photo)

The Bureau of Workers' Compensation announced that Robert Tate, owner of Elite TNT Enterprises in Mansfield, Ohio, had been convicted and sentenced on charges of workers' compensation fraud and tampering with records, both of which are felonies.

Tate must bring his comp policy up to date, and pay the bureau $137,447 in unpaid premiums and $6,953 for the costs of the investigation.

“We reached out to Mr. Tate several times to follow the law and protect his employees with workers’ compensation coverage, but he chose to ignore us, and it cost him,” said BWC Administrator/CEO Stephanie McCloud.

BWC’s special investigations department discovered in 2017 that Tate was operating his business without coverage. After several attempts to work with Tate, the bureau said agents subpoenaed bank records and audited his business, finding that he under-reported his payroll in an attempt to lower his premiums.

Investigators also found that Tate falsified new applications for BWC coverage by failing to list previous policies with the agency, and he under-reported the number of workers he employed.

In other fraud actions by the bureau:

• A Reynoldsburg woman must pay the bureau $5,010 in restitution after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor count of workers’ compensation fraud. BWC investigators discovered Amanda Treadway working as a swimming pool attendant in 2017 and as a phlebotomist, all while collecting BWC disability benefits.
• A Cincinnati man found working as a truck driver while collecting BWC disability benefits was convicted of a fifth-degree felony charge of workers’ compensation fraud. Antoine Harris paid BWC $7,963 in restitution prior to his guilty plea. A judge subsequently terminated Harris’ sentence of one month of probation.
• A Cleveland Heights woman working as a restaurant hostess while collecting BWC disability benefits pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of workers’ compensation fraud March 28 in Franklin County Municipal Court. A judge ordered Morgan Hines to pay BWC $4,089 in restitution, $88 in court costs and a $250 fine. The judge also sentenced her to two years of probation.
• BWC has reinstated the policy of a Columbus day care center after the owner paid the $9,442 he owed the agency in back premiums. Ali Ismail, owner of Helpful Hands Children’s Centers, pleaded guilty March 20 to a misdemeanor count of failure to comply.