Workers’ Comp Fraud Charges Filed on Utah Man

September 19, 2014

A Utah man who suffered a knee injury while working at the Montana State Prison is charged with defrauding the state worker’s compensation fund by collecting total disability benefits while running a construction company.

The Independent Record reported the attorney general filed a felony theft charge against 51-year-old Benjie Leroy Christensen of Vernal, Utah, on Sept. 9 alleging he illegally collected nearly $100,000 in benefits from June 2008 until March of this year.

Charging documents say Christensen started collecting permanent disability benefits in April 2004.

FraudA nurse visited Christensen in July 2011 due to a lack of information from his doctor. The nurse said he walked with a limp but appeared otherwise healthy.

Prosecutors say a private investigator documented Christensen working numbers full days at construction sites last fall. Christensen told the state he spent a lot of his life in bed.

Topics Fraud Workers' Compensation

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