Surveillance, Posts Lead to Arrest of California Mechanic for Workers’ Comp Fraud

Richard James McGee, 47, of San Bernardino, California, was arraigned today on two felony counts of workers’ compensation insurance fraud after a California Department of Insurance investigation found he allegedly misrepresented injuries to his employer in order to receive more than $30,000 in undeserved disability payments.

In August 2019, while employed as a motorcycle mechanic, McGee allegedly suffered an work-related injury to his arm and right shoulder when a gas tank fell and pinned his arm against a motorcycle. McGee began receiving Temporary Total Disability payments when his work restrictions could not be accommodated.

An investigation was launched after McGee’s coworkers saw photos on social media platforms in which he was actively racing his motorcycle and riding his downhill mountain bike. It also was discovered that McGee was operating his own motorcycle mechanic shop out of his garage, Inland Empire Motorsports.

During a Qualified Medical Exam in 2020, McGee reportedly told the physician that because of his injury he could no longer work as a motorcycle mechanic and he could no longer ride his mountain bike and had not done so since his injury. However, surveillance video reportedly showed McGee riding his mountain bike at a mountain bike park in Running Springs, California, in which he took his mountain bike off large jumps and crashed his mountain bike.

When CDI detectives presented the social media posts and surveillance video to the physician who conducted McGee’s exam, the physician said McGee had not accurately represented his injury and physical abilities, and that McGee had lied during his original exam. As a result of misrepresenting his injury and physical capabilities, McGee received $30,629 in workers’ comp benefits.

On June 2, 2022, CDI detectives arrested McGee and he was booked into the West Valley Detention Center. The San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office is prosecuting the case.

Topics California Fraud Workers' Compensation