LOUISIANA FRAUDSTER NABBED:

Louisiana’s Workers’ Compensation Administration reported that a joint effort by the Louisiana Department of Labor’s Office of Workers’ Compensation Administration and the State Attorney General’s Office resulted in the prosecution of a Jennings man who attempted to cheat the state’s workers’ compensation insurance program. Hank Bourque, 49, pleaded guilty to felony theft in a Jefferson Davis Parish courtroom for filing a false workers’ compensation claim. Bourque was ordered to make restitution in the amount of $48,900 to the Wausau Insurance Company for lost wages and medical expenses paid to him. In February 2000, Bourque reported that he hurt his back while loading a set of concrete stairs onto the back of a pickup truck for his employer, the Jefferson Davis Parish School Board. A joint investigation conducted by the Office of Workers’ Compensation and the Attorney General’s Office found that while Bourque was present when the stairs were being loaded, he was not physically involved in loading them. It was determined that Bourque filed a false claim to cover medical expenses he incurred from a prior non-work-related physical injury. In addition to repaying $48,900 to Wausau Insurance Company, Bourque received a two-year suspended jail sentence and five years of supervised probation for which he must pay a $50 monthly supervision fee.

Topics Fraud Workers' Compensation