Nurse Ordered to Pay $39,800 in Restitution to Texas Mutual

A Travis County district court sentenced Raj Dhingra of Houston for workers’ compensation fraud-related charges, according to an announcement by Texas Mutual Insurance Company.

Dhingra was sentenced to deferred adjudication and ordered to pay $39,800 in restitution to Texas Mutual.

Dhingra reported a job-related injury while working as a nurse for Kids Home Care of Texas, Inc. in Houston. She claimed she was unable to work as a result of the injury and Texas Mutual began paying workers’ compensation benefits to her. Texas Mutual eventually discovered that Dhingra was working for two other companies as a nurse while also receiving income benefits due to her alleged disability.

Investigators call this type of fraud double dipping because the claimant collects benefits for being unable to work when he or she is actually gainfully employed. Even if they are unable to work for some time, Texas law requires claimants to contact their workers’ comp carrier when they return to work. Left unchecked, double dipping and other types of workers’ comp fraud can lead to higher premiums for all Texas employers.

Source: Texas Mutual Insurance Company