Pair took late father’s monthly cash benefits
A judge has ordered a Fulton County sister and brother to reimburse $6,657 to the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation for taking their father’s BWC benefits in the immediate months following his death in 2014.
Cecilia Williams, 36, of Fayette, pleaded guilty Dec. 20 in the Fulton County Court of Common Pleas to a fifth-degree felony count of workers’ compensation fraud. She was sentenced Feb. 27 to two years of community control and a suspended jail term of seven months. She also must take a theft education course.
Her brother, James Miller, 35, of Wauseon, was sentenced March 17 to a suspended sentence of six months in jail and a $100 fine after pleading guilty to attempted workers compensation fraud, a first-degree misdemeanor. Both have already paid restitution to BWC.
BWC’s Special Investigations Department learned in 2014 that Williams’ and Miller’s father had passed away on March 15 that year, but no one had reported his death or returned his BWC cash benefits to the agency. Agents later discovered that a total of $6,657 had been withdrawn from ATMs between the dates of March 27, 2014, and July 17, 2014.
Williams admitted to agents that she withdrew the funds using her deceased father’s debit card for personal monetary gain and then provided half of the money to her brother.
To report suspected workers’ compensation fraud, call 1-800-644-6292 or visit bwc.ohio.gov.
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