The real-life version of Saul Goodman (Better Call Saul) on Breaking Bad. Eric Conn the 60 Minutes social security lawyer.

This is so bizarre that I don't know why Saul Goodman didn't think of it.
It's a tv commercial for Eric Conn in 3D no less.



for reference, here's Saul's tv commercial.

Social Security Judge Accused of Disability Scheme
WASHINGTON October 7, 2013 (AP)
By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER Associated Press
Associated Press

A retired Social Security judge in West Virginia collaborated with a lawyer to improperly award disability benefits to hundreds of applicants, according to a report released Monday by congressional investigators.

The report accuses retired administrative law Judge David B. Daugherty of scheming with lawyer Eric C. Conn to approve more than 1,800 cases from 2006 to 2010.

"By 2011, Mr. Conn and Judge Daugherty had collaborated on a scheme that enabled the judge to approve, in assembly-line fashion, hundreds of clients for disability benefits using manufactured medical evidence," said the report by the staff of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

"The report describes how one lawyer, several judges and a group of doctors took advantage of the situation and exploited the program for their own personal benefit," Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., said at a committee hearing Monday. "Together, they moved hundreds of claimants onto the disability rolls based on manufactured medical evidence and boilerplate decisions. As a result they saw millions of dollars flow their way, promotions at work and had bad behavior ignored."

Conn runs a law firm specializing in disability cases in Stanville, Ky., near the West Virginia border. Daugherty, who was a judge based in Huntington, W.Va., retired in 2011 after questions were raised about his relationship with Conn, the report said.

According to the report, the Social Security Administration paid Conn's firm more than $4.5 million in attorney fees from cases heard by Daugherty from 2006 to 2010. In 2010, Conn was the third highest-paid disability lawyer in the country, the report said.

Investigators reviewed Daugherty's bank records and found $96,000 in unexplained cash deposits, the report said.

"From 2003 to 2011, Judge Daugherty's bank records contain regularly occurring cash deposits totaling $69,800, the source of which is unexplained in the judge's financial disclosure forms," the report said. "From 2007 to 2011, his daughter's bank records list similar cash deposits totaling another $26,200. When asked about the $96,000 in cash deposits, Judge Daugherty refused to explain their origin or the source of the funds."

Neither Daugherty nor Conn could be reached for comment. Both men were scheduled to testify Monday at a committee hearing.

Justice Department spokesman Brian Fallon declined to comment on whether the Justice Department is conducting a criminal probe of the matter.

Questions about Daugherty's relationship with Conn were first raised by The Wall Street Journal in 2011.

Nearly 11 million disabled workers, spouses and children get Social Security disability benefits. That's a 45 percent increase from a decade ago. The average monthly benefit for a disabled worker is $1,130.

An additional 8.3 million people get Supplemental Security Income, a separately funded disability program for low-income people.

In order to qualify, people are supposed to have disabilities that prevent them from working and are expected to last at least a year or result in death.

Social Security disability claims are first processed through a network of local Social Security Administration field offices and state agencies called Disability Determination Services. About two-thirds of initial claims are rejected, according to agency statistics.

If your claim is rejected, you can ask the field office or state agency to reconsider. If your claim is rejected again, you can appeal to an administrative law judge, who is employed by Social Security.

The average processing time for a hearing before a judge is a little longer than a year, according to the agency. Daugherty approved claims for Conn's clients in as little as 30 days, the report said.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/social-security-judge-accused-disability-scheme-20495763

The problems I see is not fraud, but real disability waiting two years to get help. There should be no need for an attorney until an appeal. People should have disability claims processed in 30 days, not years.

If somebody is guilty of fraud, they should be prosecuted. I see real people become destitute and bankrupt because of the delays. A former basketball player I know who is 62 had worked as a school teacher and then an insurance man, got terrible medical treatment and permanent bone damage to his hip which now he is hardly mobile and walks with a walker, and it took him two years to get his claim approved. He filed bankruptcy, and is now going through a divorce. We need to put common sense back into this system.

No... the problem lies in the fact that once you bloat something into a monstrosity it is no longer able to react or be responsive to it's original design or intent. It's happening all through govt and the condition is terminal... it's just a matter of time.

By the way, if anybody wants to see the motor yacht Mike Papantonio owned until he sold it last fall, it's parked at the marina beside Palafox Pier.
Just walk out on the pier next to Jacos (which is a great bar by the way) until you get to the end of the pier. Look for the big motor yacht which says "75 Azimut" on the side of it.

2seaoat wrote:The problems I see is not fraud, but real disability waiting two years to get help.   There should be no need for an attorney until an appeal.   People should have disability claims processed in 30 days, not years.

If somebody is guilty of fraud, they should be prosecuted.  I see real people become destitute and bankrupt because of the delays.   A former basketball player I know who is 62 had worked as a school teacher and then an insurance man, got terrible medical treatment and permanent bone damage to his hip which now he is hardly mobile and walks with a walker, and it took him two years to get his claim approved.  He filed bankruptcy, and is now going through a divorce.   We need to put common sense back into this system.

You can work at a desk job if you have physical limitations. People in wheelchairs work all the time.

Bob wrote:

Social Security Judge Accused of Disability Scheme
WASHINGTON October 7, 2013 (AP)
By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER Associated Press
Associated Press

A retired Social Security judge in West Virginia collaborated with a lawyer to improperly award disability benefits to hundreds of applicants, according to a report released Monday by congressional investigators.

The report accuses retired administrative law Judge David B. Daugherty of scheming with lawyer Eric C. Conn to approve more than 1,800 cases from 2006 to 2010.

"By 2011, Mr. Conn and Judge Daugherty had collaborated on a scheme that enabled the judge to approve, in assembly-line fashion, hundreds of clients for disability benefits using manufactured medical evidence," said the report by the staff of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

"The report describes how one lawyer, several judges and a group of doctors took advantage of the situation and exploited the program for their own personal benefit," Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., said at a committee hearing Monday. "Together, they moved hundreds of claimants onto the disability rolls based on manufactured medical evidence and boilerplate decisions. As a result they saw millions of dollars flow their way, promotions at work and had bad behavior ignored."

Conn runs a law firm specializing in disability cases in Stanville, Ky., near the West Virginia border. Daugherty, who was a judge based in Huntington, W.Va., retired in 2011 after questions were raised about his relationship with Conn, the report said.

According to the report, the Social Security Administration paid Conn's firm more than $4.5 million in attorney fees from cases heard by Daugherty from 2006 to 2010. In 2010, Conn was the third highest-paid disability lawyer in the country, the report said.

Investigators reviewed Daugherty's bank records and found $96,000 in unexplained cash deposits, the report said.

"From 2003 to 2011, Judge Daugherty's bank records contain regularly occurring cash deposits totaling $69,800, the source of which is unexplained in the judge's financial disclosure forms," the report said. "From 2007 to 2011, his daughter's bank records list similar cash deposits totaling another $26,200. When asked about the $96,000 in cash deposits, Judge Daugherty refused to explain their origin or the source of the funds."

Neither Daugherty nor Conn could be reached for comment. Both men were scheduled to testify Monday at a committee hearing.

Justice Department spokesman Brian Fallon declined to comment on whether the Justice Department is conducting a criminal probe of the matter.

Questions about Daugherty's relationship with Conn were first raised by The Wall Street Journal in 2011.

Nearly 11 million disabled workers, spouses and children get Social Security disability benefits. That's a 45 percent increase from a decade ago. The average monthly benefit for a disabled worker is $1,130.

An additional 8.3 million people get Supplemental Security Income, a separately funded disability program for low-income people.

In order to qualify, people are supposed to have disabilities that prevent them from working and are expected to last at least a year or result in death.

Social Security disability claims are first processed through a network of local Social Security Administration field offices and state agencies called Disability Determination Services. About two-thirds of initial claims are rejected, according to agency statistics.

If your claim is rejected, you can ask the field office or state agency to reconsider. If your claim is rejected again, you can appeal to an administrative law judge, who is employed by Social Security.

The average processing time for a hearing before a judge is a little longer than a year, according to the agency. Daugherty approved claims for Conn's clients in as little as 30 days, the report said.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/social-security-judge-accused-disability-scheme-20495763

Good for Coburn. Now all those people need to be kicked off and jailed as well as the lawyer and judge.

You can work at a desk job if you have physical limitations. People in wheelchairs work all the time.


That should certainly be part of the process. Rehab and vocational training which can allow a disabled person to be partially functional are all good ideas.

The Devil is in the detail, but in the example I gave my friend had done painting the last 10 years and he could not do a thing in that vocation. As a former school teacher, it would be great if they could have found a teaching position where he could teach for four years and reduce his cost to the SS pool. However, the reality is school districts are trying to get rid of older and higher paid teachers and replace them with newbies at lower costs. Good policy is hard work.

The Dept. of Voc. Rehab. will send you to school and pay all expenses to retrain you. People wither away when they stop doing anything productive.

The Dept. of Voc. Rehab. will send you to school and pay all expenses to retrain you. People wither away when they stop doing anything productive.



Complete agreement. The Psychological damage of going from a productive citizen to one dependent on a government check is devastating. All these folks who think we have too much government do not understand we need efficient and thoughtful government which would utilize rehab and help people help themselves. There is a vicious negative logic in this country which must be reversed. We need to expect our elected officials to work for logical and fair systems. It can and must be accomplished.

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/counts-383241-fraud-trial.html


Here's another medical fraud. 154 million.

And another.

http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Lawyer-charged-in-fraud-scheme-4699302.php