Justice Department indicts employee for COVID-19 workplace fraud

In mid-April the FBI warned employers to be on the lookout for fake COVID-19 diagnoses, doctors’ notes, and other coronavirus-related documents from employees.

Santwon Antonio Davis has been charged with defrauding his employer by allegedly faking a positive COVID-19 medical excuse letter, causing the employer to stop business and sanitize the workplace. Davis has since admitted that he did not have COVID-19. …

According to the … charges and other information presented in court: The defendant, who was employed by a Fortune 500 company with a facility located in the Atlanta, Georgia area, falsely claimed to have contracted COVID-19 and submitted a falsified medical record to his employer. In concern for its employees and customers, the corporation closed its facility for cleaning and paid its employees during the shutdown. This caused a loss in excess of $100,000 to the corporation and the unnecessary quarantine of several of the defendant’s coworkers.

• Pay attention to inconsistencies on notes and other documents in fonts and spacing, or grammatical or spelling errors.
• Look for computer-generated, versus hand signatures.
• Compare legitimate medical excuse letters from health care providers to be aware of their typical format and structure.
• Contact the medical provider to authenticate the document (after first providing the employee the opportunity to authenticate).