Home Columbia Press Releases 2009 Blue Cross Employees Sentenced for Workers’ Compensation Fraud
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Blue Cross Employees Sentenced for Workers’ Compensation Fraud

U.S. Attorney’s Office July 30, 2009
  • District of South Carolina (803) 929-3000

COLUMBIA, SC—United States Attorney W. WALTER WILKINS stated today that CHANELL K. BATES, age 26, and NATASHA F. HENDERSON, age 37, both of Columbia, South Carolina, were sentenced today in federal court for Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud, a violation of Title 18 , United States Code, Section 1349. United States District Judge Joseph F. Anderson, Jr., of Columbia sentenced both BATES and HENDERSON to 13 months imprisonment and ordered each of them to pay over $80,000 in restitution, which was their share of approximately $480,000 in total fraud committed.

Evidence presented at the change of plea hearing established that BATES and HENDERSON were both employees of Companion Property and Casualty Insurance (CPCI), a subsidiary of Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) in Columbia, South Carolina. BATES and HENDERSON, along with another employee, changed federal tax identification numbers of legitimate BCBS health care providers to individuals who were not health care providers. These individuals, who did not work for BCBS, would receive workers’ compensation checks in the mail, cash the checks at banks using bogus accounts they established, and then distribute the proceeds among the seven charged participants. The co-conspirators obtained approximately $487,346.98 through this scheme as a result of 116 fraudulent checks being cashed.

The case was investigated by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Winston D. Holliday, Jr., of the Columbia office handled the case.

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