l****z
发帖数: 29846 | 1 Democratic Officeholder Fraudulently Took $58K in Federal Disability
Payments
July 9, 2013 - 1:24 PM
By Michael W. Chapman
(CNSNews.com) – Raymond E. Salva, a former Democratic member of the
Missouri House of Representatives, has pleaded guilty to illegally taking $
58,816 in federal disability payments while he was working as a state
legislator earning $30,000 a year, according to the Office of the Inspector
General of the Social Security Administration.
In a plea agreement reached on June 26, Salva agreed to pay $58,816 in
restitution to the Social Security Administration (SSA) but he also still
faces sentencing, which could include imprisonment of 10 years without
parole and a fine up to $250,000.
When Salva was indicted back in November 2012, the acting U.S. attorney for
the Western District of Missouri, David Ketchmark, said: “An elected
official who is entrusted to make the law must also follow the law. This
kind of deceit and illegal double-dipping from the public coffers is nothing
less than theft. Today’s indictment alleges that, while purportedly
serving the public, he was actually stealing from the taxpayers and
betraying the trust of the voters.”
Salva was approved for Social Security disability payments in February 2000,
claiming that he had suffered a neck injury in a farm accident. However,
in 2002 Salva was elected to the Missouri House of Representatives and he
served there as Democratic legislator (District 51) from 2003 through 2010,
earning $30,000 a year in compensation. All the while, he received monthly
disability payments from the SSA.
In May 2003, about five months after he started working as a state
representative, the SSA conducted a review to find out whether Salva was
still eligible for disability payments. “As part of that review, Salva
completed a form in which he affirmed that he was not able to return to work
and that he had not done any work since being disabled,” reads a press
release from the SSA’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG).
Nearly two years went by and Salva continued to get the disability payments
every month. Then, in December 2004, the SSA discovered earnings posted to
Salva’s record and sent him a letter inquiring about his work activity. “
Salva responded that he had conferred with an SSA representative, who told
him that public service would not affect his disability benefits,” reads
the statement from the OIG. “Salva admitted today [June 26,2013] that this
statement was false and that he did not confer with an SSA representative
who told him that working as a legislator was in some way exempted.”
Salva continued to receive disability payments in 2005, 2006, 2007, and
through February 2008. At that point, the SSA sent a letter to Salva
notifying him of the over-payments, and then sent another letter billing him
for the nearly $59,000 in over-payment. Salva did not leave the Missouri
house of Representatives until December 2010.
Salva appealed the SSA’s over-payment claim to an administrative law judge.
And on Jan. 3, 2011, he completed a new application for Social Security
disability. He subsequently withdrew that application in February 2011. In
April of that year the administrative law judge found Salva “at fault in
causing the overpayment,” states the OIG release.
In June of this year, Salva entered his plea agreement with the U.S.
attorney's office for the Western District of Missouri. | b*******n
发帖数: 8420 | | r*******t
发帖数: 8550 | 3 How much did President Bush take away from taxpayers to fund the illegal
Iraq war?
Inspector
【在 l****z 的大作中提到】
: Democratic Officeholder Fraudulently Took $58K in Federal Disability
: Payments
: July 9, 2013 - 1:24 PM
: By Michael W. Chapman
: (CNSNews.com) – Raymond E. Salva, a former Democratic member of the
: Missouri House of Representatives, has pleaded guilty to illegally taking $
: 58,816 in federal disability payments while he was working as a state
: legislator earning $30,000 a year, according to the Office of the Inspector
: General of the Social Security Administration.
: In a plea agreement reached on June 26, Salva agreed to pay $58,816 in
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