Milton man admits to defrauding Social Security Administration

LAFAYETTE — A Milton resident has pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to defrauding the Social Security Administration of more than $300,000, U.S. Attorney Stephanie Finley said Friday.

Randy P. Courville, 53, received payments totaling $324,818 from 1995 until March 2012 even as he continued to work as a painter, Finley said in a news release.

“He owned his own business called R.T.’s Painting, which was later changed to Affordable Painting,” the release stated.

Finley said Courville’s wife and three children also received Social Security benefits during those years.

Courville was told to inform Social Security Administration officials when he was able to return to work, but Courville ignored the instructions, Finley said.

“At no time between 1995 and 2012 did Courville notify (the officials) that he was able to or had completed any work,” Finley said.

Courville faces up to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release, the release stated.

He also must repay the $324,818 in restitution, Finley said.

Courville is scheduled to appear for sentencing in federal court in Lafayette on June 21.

The Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General conducted the investigation, which was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelly Uebinger.

Comments

1) Comment by RODEO CLOWN - 16/02/2013

Please don't interpret what I'm about to write as justification of this persons action. One can't help but wonder how did he get away with this charade for 17 years. One cannot collect SS disability benefits for 17 years without more or less continuous medical examinations. A medical professional would have to have provided verification of his disability. Therefore, an investigation into which doctor(s) was(were) performing his exams as well as an investigation into how many SSD patients are being treated by this(these) MD(s). Another investigation should center around his tax returns. Once an individual starts receiving SSD, the Social Security Administration(SSA) is granted an automatic waiver with respect to one's income tax filings. The SSA is granted the right to interface with the IRS and examine your yearly tax returns. So, either he was not reporting the additional income on his tax returns, or was filing married filing separately and putting the earned income entirely on his wife's SS#, in which case SS fraud will be the least of his problems, or the SSA was failing to perform the appropriate due diligence(which is highly unlikely) with respect to investigating and verifying his tax returns. Regardless, there is a lot more to this story than just a “con” illegally collecting his SSD payments. This story should be followed through until the bitter end. It is only appropriate that all parties involved receive their just deserves.

2) Comment by Michael Gary Scott - 16/02/2013

Great that they caught him but there are thousands more in Louisiana and millions nationwide commiting entitlement fraud. Time to start shutting down some programs.

3) Comment by agagent - 16/02/2013

Federal entitlements are designed to invite waste, fraud, and abuse.

4) Comment by Bouncer - 15/02/2013

Just imagine how often this kind of thing goes undetected. The amount of money that taxpayers are bilked out of by scam artists like this one is absolutely jaw-dropping.