Caseyville man sentenced for stealing benefits from railroad retirement board
From Illinois Business Journal news services
EAST ST. LOUIS – A Caseyville man was sentenced today in a case in which he admitting stealing benefits from the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board.
United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois Stephen R. Wigginton said Dennis Harold French, 53, was sentenced to three years of probation following his guilty plea. The court also ordered him to pay restitution of $82,763.47 to the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board and a special assessment of $100.
French admitted that from May 2009 through June 2012, he fraudulently obtained benefits from U.S. Railroad Retirement Board, an agency of the United States, by concealing his employment status in order to receive occupational disability benefits.
The case was investigated by agents of the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney William E. Coonan.
Wigginton urges people to report suspected fraud. In the case of the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board program, people may contact the board’s Office of Inspector General by calling 1 (800) 772-4258 or by e-mailing a complaint or information to: hotline@oig.rrb.gov.
