Investigations

On May 4, 2012, Raymond Elmo Deskins, III, a former air traffic controller, was sentenced in U.S. District Court, Alexandria, Virginia, to 24 months imprisonment, 3 years supervised release, a $1200 special assessment, and $682,438.08 in restitution for his role in a worker's compensation fraud scheme.  Mr. Deskins failed to disclose work activities in the construction industry to the Department of Labor's Office of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP). 

The investigation revealed that in June 2004, Mr. Deskins submitted a notice of traumatic injury to OWCP claiming Federal Employees' Compensation Act benefits in connection with an injury sustained during his employment with Federal Aviation Administration.  In August 2004, OWCP accepted Mr. Deskins' claim and began issuing Mr. Deskins monthly benefits.  From 2005 through 2008, while receiving disability benefits based on his inability to perform work of any kind, Mr. Deskins worked as a construction foreman for a Sterling, Virginia, based general contractor.  To continue receiving disability benefits, Mr. Deskins falsely certified to the Department of Labor on annual forms that he had not been engaged in any work activities during the reported periods.  Mr. Deskins subsequently received nearly $700,000 in federal workers' compensation benefits. 

This was a joint investigation with the FBI and the Department of Labor, OIG.