Vets Home baker guilty of fraud

A jury in Helena District Court found a 51-year-old Columbia Falls woman guilty on Nov. 13 of stealing state workers compensation benefits.

Velma Irvin, who worked as a baker at the Montana Veterans Home in Columbia Falls, was charged with one count of felony theft by common scheme and faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine up to $50,000.

According to the Montana Attorney General’s Office, Irvin filed an injury report with Montana State Fund on May 3, 2013, claiming she had hurt her arm and shoulder on April 29 while kneading pizza dough at work.

After filing the claim and seeking medical treatment, Irvin returned to work in a light-duty capacity until July 3, when she quit her job at the Vets Home.

The following month, investigators received reports from nine of Irvin’s former co-workers stating that she had actually injured herself at home, not as a result of an on-the-job event.

Irvin’s supervisor told investigators that Irvin couldn’t say which shoulder hurt on April 29 and said she had fallen at home and hurt her shoulders several days earlier.

A co-worker told investigators that Irvin came to work on April 28 with noticeable injuries to her face, right shoulder and leg. She said Irvin told her that she had tripped over her dog in a dark hallway. Another co-worker said Irvin told her she had tripped over the dog while she was drunk.

When interviewed by an investigator, Irvin admitted tripping over her black Labrador while getting out of bed on April 29 and hitting her face on a bookshelf as she fell. But she insisted that two incidents at work that same day had caused her shoulder injury.

Irvin also admitted she had told co-workers that she didn’t want to work anymore and had been working at the Vets Home for “a long time and was getting pretty fed up with it.”

The attorney general’s office noted that Irvin filled out at least three forms that warned her about filing false claims, and that she never told the Montana State Fund or medical professionals about her existing injury.

Irvin received about $3,130 in workers compensation benefits. Had the fraud not been detected early in the claim, the attorney general’s office said, the Montana State Fund would have had to pay out much more.

“Yesterday’s verdict is proof positive that Montanans take work comp theft seriously, no matter how large or small an amount of money is involved,” Montana Attorney General Tim Fox said.

Helena District Court Judge James Reynolds scheduled Irvin’s sentencing hearing for Jan. 8.