Woman Pleads to Cashing Deceased Mom's Comp Checks for a Year

Friday, February 21, 2020 | 0

An Alabama woman has pleaded guilty to cashing her deceased mother's Ohio workers' compensation checks for more than a year, the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation reported.

Patricia Barney was sentenced to five years of probation and must pay the bureau $18,000 in restitution, according to a news release.

BWC’s Special Investigations Department found that Barney, who was an authorized user on the bank account where her mother's benefit payments were being directly deposited, continued to draw from the account after her mother died in January 2017. She did so until May 2018 without notifying BWC, the agency said.

The bureau also announced another conviction for double dipping, and three others for employers failing to secure comp coverage:

• Shawn Ferrer, of Canton, pleaded guilty to working while receiving benefits. Ferrer was sentenced to 90 days in jail, six months of probation and must pay $1,600 in restitution.
• Glenn and Jack Cummings, owners of Cummings Moving and Storage, of Dayton, paid the BWC more than $9,600 in back premiums after they pleaded to failure to purchase coverage for their workers.
• Barton Carmichael, who runs three waste-hauling companies, was ordered to pay $14,329 in restitution for failure to obtain coverage. His 180-day jail sentence was suspended.
• Todd Bennett, owner of a rental company, was ordered to pay $50 in fines, plus court costs, for operating a business without compensation insurance.