A truck driver who posted on social media about his new job while receiving weekly workers’ compensation payments must pay $85,000 following a WorkSafe investigation.  

Simon Stott, 57, admitted one charge of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception at Echuca Magistrates’ Court in Victoria.   

He did trucking jobs between February 2017 and August 2018, earning about $55,000, while telling his doctor, insurer and independent medical examiner he had not returned to work, investigators found. 

Stott had been receiving weekly compensation payments after suffering severe injuries in a crash in 2014. 

WorkSafe says the fraud was uncovered when Stott posted on social media about a new job as an interstate driver in December 2018. 

He has been ordered to repay $73,062 and was fined a further $12,000. 

Return to Work Victoria Executive Director Jason Lardelli says there was no excuse for Stott’s actions. 

“Our workers’ compensation scheme is there to help those who genuinely need it to support their recovery and return to work,” he said. “The Victorian public expects us to safeguard these funds and those who actively seek to defraud the system by using it for personal gain will be held to account.”

From Insurance News magazine: Why lithium-ion batteries pose such a powerful problem for insurers