Help

BI’s Article search uses Boolean search capabilities. If you are not familiar with these principles, here are some quick tips.

To search specifically for more than one word, put the search term in quotation marks. For example, “workers compensation”. This will limit your search to that combination of words.

To search for a combination of terms, use quotations and the & symbol. For example, “hurricane” & “loss”.

Login Register Subscribe

Washington state bar owner accused of comp fraud

Reprints
Washington state bar owner accused of comp fraud

A Washington man is accused of running a bar while claiming he was too injured to work, a scheme that allegedly provided him more than $230,000 in state workers compensation and federal disability benefits, according to state regulators.

Dennis J. Bennett, 63, of Veradale, Washington, was scheduled to be arraigned Monday in Spokane County Superior Court on two charges of felony, first-degree theft, according to a press release issued Friday by Washington’s Department of Labor & Industries.

Investigators say Mr. Bennett wrongfully received more than $188,000 in wage-replacement benefits from Labor & Industries and more than $47,000 in Social Security disability cash benefits at various times from 2012 to 2016, all while operating his Spokane, Washington-based restaurant and bar where investigators surveilled him serving drinks and stocking cabinets, according to a press release.

He had originally claimed to suffer knee, back and neck injuries while working for a trucking company in 2002.   

"It's possible to legally receive workers' comp and Social Security benefits at the same time," said Elizabeth Smith, assistant director of L&I Fraud Prevention & Labor Standards, in the statement. "But people need to tell the truth if they go to work or their physical abilities change.”

 

 

Read Next

  • Eight convicted in Ohio comp fraud investigations

    Business owners, fraudulent claimants and a health care provider who attempted to steal from the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation are among eight convictions secured by the agency in August, the bureau announced on Friday.