Former Mass. Resident Pleads Guilty in Comp Caper

A Florida man and former resident of Massachusetts pled guilty in Suffolk Superior Court on charges he schemed to collect more than $34,000 in workers’ compensation benefits while continuing to work.

Douglas Poole, age 47, was charged with Workers’ Compensation Fraud (3 counts) and Larceny Over $250 (1 count). Following a change of plea from not guilty to guilty, Suffolk Superior Court Judge Carol Ball sentenced Poole to two and a half years in the House of Corrections; 98 days to serve, balance suspended for five years on the charge of Workers’ Compensation Fraud, and probation for five years on the charge of Larceny. He was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $34,715.68 to Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. Poole has been incarcerated since his arrest on Feb. 13, 2008, and was released from custody yesterday for time served.

On Sept. 14, 1992, Poole, then employed by the construction company A. Paul Etre Builders, was injured in a fall sustained at work. He applied for and began receiving workers’ comp benefits as ordered by the Department of Industrial Accidents (DIA) from September1992 through October 2005.

Poole, formerly of Spencer, MA, and current resident of Spring Hill, Florida, reportedly collected workers’ comp benefits while working on separate occasions over a three year period from October 2002 through November 2005 at his own construction company, Construction Unlimited, as well as being employed as an independent snow plow operator for the town on Spencer, MA.

On April 10, 2003, Poole reportedly submitted an Employee Earning Report (E.E.R.) for the time period from October 2002 to April 2003 to DIA stating that he was entitled to benefits and earned no other wages. An investigation by the Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB) revealed that Poole was paid $2,907 from the town of Spencer for snowplowing services rendered during this time period in which he reported to the DIA that he reportedly was not working.

A subsequent report submitted by Poole to DIA on Nov. 13, 2005, for the time period of May 1, 2003, to Nov. 1, 2003, claimed that he was entitled to benefits and earned no other wages. During this time period, Poole was paid $3,000 for a roofing contract for his company Construction Unlimited at a private residence in Dunstable, MA.

Poole reportedly issued an additional report to DIA on Nov. 14, 2005, reporting that from the time period from Nov. 1, 2004, to May 1, 2005, that he was entitled to benefits and earned no other wages. Poole earned $10,319 for a roofing contract for his company Construction Unlimited at a private residence in Leicester, MA.

The fraud was initially detected by Liberty Mutual and reported to IFB on Jan. 30, 2006. This case was referred to the Attorney General’s Office on Nov. 13, 2006.

Poole was indicted on July 12, 2007. On Feb. 13, 2008, Poole was arrested in Florida, on a default warrant and transported to Massachusetts. He was arraigned on Feb. 20, 2008, at which time he entered a plea of not guilty and was ordered held on $30,000 bail.

On May 21, 2008, Poole entered a change of plea to guilty in Suffolk Superior Court.