Amidst rising concerns about Social Security’s insolvency and lenient administrative law judges, the Department of Justice continues to come across and prosecute those who take advantage of Social Security Disability Insurance (“SSDI”) benefits. People falsely claiming a disability when they are in fact able to work are one of the more common areas of Social Security fraud. A less common occurrence is when the fraudster is a medical professional claiming to be unable to work.
This happened over the course of eleven years in Las Vegas. A chiropractor received SSDI benefits from the fall of 1994 until December of 2005. He claimed that he suffered a back injury and was no longer able to work as a chiropractor. He received benefits, all while continuing to operate his chiropractic business. Verifying and submitting legitimate SSDI benefits is one of the responsibilities of a Tulsa Social Security Disability lawyer.
The chiropractor also withheld other information from the Social Security Administration. He failed to tell the agency that he earned $133,000 from 1987 until 2007 as a Las Vegas boxing judge, which would have affected the amount of benefits that he received. The judge in this case ordered the chiropractor to serve 18 months in prison and to pay over $400,000 in restitution to the Social Security Administration. Further details regarding compliance with Social Security laws and regulations are available from a Tulsa Social Security Disability attorney.