A captain of the County Fire Service of Los Angeles faces crime charges following allegations that he simulated a work injury and forged doctors’ tickets to fraudulently claim thousands of dollars in disability payments, the authorities said.
Thomas Merryman, 45, would have received more than $ 25,000 in insurance payments for an injury to work that could not have taken place because he was not at work, according to the office of the County Prosecutor.
He would have submitted false documents under the name of another fire captain and doctor of the colonial Life & accident Insurance Company, allowing him to claim long -term disability payments, prosecutors said.
Merryman, who is currently living in Georgetown, Texas, has been accused of a charge of insurance fraud, a fake person and two counterfeiting charges, prosecutors said. He must be arrested in Los Angeles on September 9.
If he is found guilty, he risks up to five years in state prison, the authorities said.
The District Prosecutor’s Office Declaration has provided any additional information on the history of Merryman with the ministry or its current employment status. According to Transparent California, an online database following remuneration for civil servants, a man of the same name and identified as a captain with Fire du Comté de la, received $ 178,466 in total salary and $ 112,687 in social benefits in 2024.
“The false disability complaints will not be tolerated under my watch, in particular by the first stakeholders accused of protecting our county,” said County Dist county. Atty. Nathan Hochman said in a statement. “False health care complaints raise insurance premiums and make more difficult for people with legitimate work injury to claim services. My message to officials who abuse the system is clear: we monitor you. ”
