A 52-year-old Olympia, Wash. man, Richard Sundblad, has been ordered to pay $20,300 in penalties and Wash. Department of Labor and Industries benefits he collected while secretly working.
An investigation into Sundblad determined that he had allegedly collected workers’ compensation time-loss benefits illegally. While collecting wage-replacement benefits from L&I, the claimant reportedly had arranged to have his paychecks deposited in The Sunblad Family Trust in an attempt to hide his work activities from the department.
Sundblad was injured Aug. 2, 2002, while working for Belmont Enterprises in Centralia. The claimant allegedly contended that his injury prevented him from working, and he began receiving time-loss benefits.
Belmont Enterprises notified the department that someone had seen the claimant’s truck and felt he was working for a new employer. An L&I fraud investigator located the new employer and, with that employer’s cooperation, videotaped the L&I claimant loading his truck with no sign of a disability. The new employer also provided payroll information that showed the claimant’s paycheck going to the The Sunblad Family Trust. According to investigators, it appears the claimant intentionally dropped the “d” in the trust’s name to avoid detection. The case was turned over to the Thurston County prosecutor, who has charged Sundblad with two counts of perjury, three counts of first-degree theft and one count of forgery.
Topics Fraud Washington
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