Claimant Ordered to Pay $14,500 in Restitution for Workers' Comp Fraud

A Columbus, Ohio, woman pleaded guilty to a felony workers’ compensation fraud charge on Nov. 6, stemming from findings by an Ohio Department of Job and Family data cross-match, the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation reported. The investigation found that Dianne Smoot had earned wages as a home health aide for a Central Ohio Area Agency on Aging program while concurrently receiving disability benefits from the BWC. Smoot was ordered to pay the BWC $14,598.24 in restitution and was sentenced to six months in jail. Her incarceration was suspended for five years of community contr...