Lawyer who called himself 'Mr. Social Security' is charged in alleged $600M disability-fraud scheme
A Kentucky lawyer who calls himself “Mr. Social Security” has been accused of disability fraud in an indictment that alleges he conspired with a former administrative law judge and a psychologist.
The lawyer, Eric Conn of Pikeville, was charged along with former ALJ David Daugherty and psychologist Alfred Adkins in an indictment unsealed on Tuesday, report the Louisville Courier-Journal, the Lexington Herald Leader and the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.).
The defendants are accused in an alleged conspiracy that defrauded the Social Security Administration out of more than $600 million in disability payments with the use of false medical documentation.
The indictment alleges that Daugherty solicited Conn to submit falsified evidence that would support his favorable decisions, and Adkins prepared pretextual evaluations supporting disability benefits, regardless of the claimants’ actual conditions. Conn allegedly paid the judge with a portion of the $9,000 to $9,500 in monthly withdrawals he took from his business account.
The defendants are charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. Conn and Daugherty are also charged with conspiring to launder monetary instruments. Conn is also charged with money laundering, conspiring to retaliate against a witness and destruction of records in a federal investigation.
The Social Security Administration cut off benefits for hundreds of Conn’s former clients last May, but agreed to reinstate the money as it determined anew whether they were eligible for the money.
Conn was featured in a 60 Minutes report on disability fraud in 2013. Afterward, Conn said he had served his clients “with honor and dignity.”