Md. Man Pleads Guilty to Fraud

Robert Mister, a Leonardtown, Maryland carpenter, pleaded guilty to insurance fraud when he admitted to unlawfully collecting workers’ compensation insurance benefits from IWIF, Maryland’s largest workers’ compensation insurance carrier, in Baltimore County District Court earlier this month.

IWIF’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) launched an investigation and placed Mister under surveillance after it received a call from the policyholder, who owns a construction company in Huntington, Maryland, alleging Mister was working while collecting temporary total disability benefits.

Further reported proof against Mister surfaced when an IWIF investigator discovered Mister had been involved in an auto accident with a company vehicle from a company that was employing him at the time he was collecting his benefit checks.

A hearing date to determine restitution terms to IWIF, which is in the amount of $5,225, is scheduled for Oct. 14, 2003.

Currently, Mister is on probation.