Former Navy Civilian Employee Charged With False Statements to Obtain Workers’ Compensation

RALEIGH – United States Attorney Robert J. Higdon, Jr. announced that today in federal court, DAVID BURLEY, 67, Bayboro, Nc was named in a Criminal Information filed on April 6, 2020 charging him with False Statement or Fraud to Obtain Federal Employee’s Compensation.  If convicted, he faces up to one-year imprisonment, a $100,000 fine, and up to one year supervised release.

The Criminal Information charges BURLEY with failing to report income from 2015-2018 for work he performed in that time.

The Federal Employees Compensation Act (FECA) is part of the Department of Labor (DOL), Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP).  OWCP monitors the program by mailing an annual self-certification form to a FECA beneficiary that requests information about the beneficiary’s work activities during the past 15 months. The beneficiary is required to certify that the beneficiary’s responses are true, complete and correct. The beneficiary is required to report all employment for which the beneficiary received a salary, wages, income, or payment of any kind. The beneficiary is also required to report all volunteer work, self-employment or involvement in business enterprises, and to report any work or ownership interest in any business enterprise even if the business lost money or profits or income were paid to others. 

OWCP uses the employee’s responses to reevaluate, confirm the amount of, or entitlement to, benefits. Recipients of workers’ compensation benefits have an obligation to immediately report any change in employment to OWCP.

The Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), in conjunction with the Marine Corps Eastern Area Counsel Office and the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General conducted the investigation in this matter.