John
T. Owings, 58, of Shreveport, was charged with one count of theft of
government property and one count of concealing that he was ineligible
for Social Security benefits. According to the indictment, Owings
applied for Social Security disability benefits in March of 2007. After
being awarded the benefits, he was required to report if he began
working again. He began working in 2012 as a surgeon for the University
of California-Davis where was paid $22,000 a month. He was hired in 2013
as an employee of LSU Health Sciences Center Shreveport where he is
Endowed Chair and Professor of Surgery to oversee the trauma center and
where he is being paid $41,400 a month. Based on his employment, Owings
was ineligible to receive disability benefits. However, he concealed the
employment changes from the Social Security Administration, and as a
result, he received more than $200,000 in government money that he was
not entitled to. ...
Why would any intelligent person take that chance, especially when he was making that kind of money?
ReplyDeleteI want to know what condition he had that allowed him to qualify.
ReplyDeleteBeing he is 58 now, and applied in 2007 that could make him a younger individual at onset. Mental impairment fits with his background as it would exclude past work and alternative work in the younger age range, but that is just a guess on my part.
ReplyDeleteIt is a little odd they decided to indict rather than just seek overpayment with a civil monetary penalty. If he was overpaid 200,000, but was making 41,400 per month, and has been earning roughly that much for the past 5 years, I would imagine repayment and paying the penalty would be extremely simple.
And of course the article doesn't mention that he probably had a Trial Work Period, so was due checks for 12 months after he started working (TWP, month of cessation, and grace period). Maybe he reported at first and was told he could work -- SSA Teleservice Centers have told my clients that, without explaining the whole picture. The $200,000 overpayment seems high for being overpaid starting in mid-2013 until 2017. Nobody gets social security dib of $3,500+ per month. Also wonder how he "concealed" his work -- did he use someone else's SSN? Not too likely. I'm betting that count is because SSA says he didn't report. Never mind that SSA had his wages (reported by IRS) by the fall after he started working, and SSA District Offices get alerts to do work CDRs.
ReplyDelete$200,000 may include what Medicare paid for his care?
ReplyDeleteCharles--really appreciate your blog and check it everyday. As a recently retired 36 + year SSA employee I stand by my earlier comment on the hilarious and sad defense of this crime. Sorry you do not see it that way. Best regards.
ReplyDeleteSomething is off about the numbers. But this surgeon has quite the nerve if he knew he was supposed to report those earnings. However, there is a possibility he was just ignorant. Some doctors are socially clueless and sometimes not good with common sense.
ReplyDelete11:00 AM ..one of the articles aid it was a disease of the bones that was now in remission
ReplyDeleteIf you hid yor earnings you are not entitled to payments during the trial work period
ReplyDelete