Wash. man pleads guilty to defrauding ID investors
Recent Cases
A Washington man has pleaded guilty in federal court in Idaho to cheating investors out of more than $2 million and using the cash for his own benefit.
Federal prosecutors say 59-year-old Dale Edward Lowell, of Colbert, Wash., pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud Tuesday.
Investigators say Lowell, while living in northern Idaho in 2005, started raised money from investors by telling him he was a savvy options trader. He also told investors he had taken steps to cover losses.
Altogether, prosecutors say Lowell duped 22 investor groups and raised about $2.2 million that he ultimately lost in the market, used for personal expenses or to pay off investors to keep the scheme going.
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Workers’ Compensation Subrogation of Administrative Fees and Costs
When a worker covered by workers’ compensation makes a claim against a third party, the workers’ compensation insurance retains the right to subrogate against any recovery from that third party for all benefits paid to or on behalf of a claimant injured at work. When subrogating for more than basic medical and indemnity benefits, the Texas workers’ compensation subrogation statute provides that “the net amount recovered by a claimant in a third‑party action shall be used to reimburse the carrier for benefits, including medical benefits that have been paid for the compensable injury.” TX Labor Code § 417.002.
In fact, all 50 states provide for similar subrogation. However, none of them precisely outlines which payments or costs paid by a compensation carrier constitute “compensation” and can be recovered. The result is industry-wide confusion and an ongoing debate and argument with claimants’ attorneys over what can and can’t be included in a carrier’s lien for recovery purposes.
In addition to medical expenses, death benefits, funeral costs and/or indemnity benefits for lost wages and loss of earning capacity resulting from a compensable injury, workers’ compensation insurance carriers also expend considerable dollars for case management costs, medical bill audit fees, rehabilitation benefits, nurse case worker fees, and other similar fees. They also incur other expenses in conjunction with the handling and adjusting of workers’ compensation claims. Workers’ compensation carriers typically assert, of course, that, they are entitled to reimbursement for such expenditures when it recovers its workers’ compensation lien. Injured workers and their attorneys disagree.