LEXINGTON, Ky. – The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky has issued an arrest warrant for a lawyer convicted of a multi-million dollar fraudulent scheme.
FBI officials say Eric Conn, a former attorney in Floyd County, removed his electronic monitoring device in violation of his bond.
Officials say his whereabouts at the moment are unknown.
Conn pleaded guilty in March to his role in a $550 million social security fraud scheme. Prosecutors said that scheme involved Conn, a doctor, bogus medical reports and a federal judge and the goal of the scheme was to get patients disability money, who might not actually need it.
Hundreds of people involved in these cases were from eastern Kentucky.
There was big money involved. Over the course of a decade, Conn’s firm received $23 million dollars from the Social Security Administration.
The former attorney was allowed to skip jail time between his plea and sentencing, as long as he remained on house arrest.
Conn was scheduled to be sentenced next month.
WKYT was able to talk on the phone with one of the women who was a whistleblower in the case. She says she’s not surprised he’s gone.
“I’m both angry and, I don’t know, disheartened that they didn’t take this more seriously sooner.
I’m just upset the feds didn’t get involved sooner and take the whole situation for what it was and get involved and freeze his assets,’ Jennifer Griffith said.
Conn’s attorney, Scott White, said he didn’t have comment on the situation. He said, “Sorry, none that would be suitable for public airwaves.”
Anyone who knows where Conn might be is asked to contact the FBI at (502) 263-6000.
the government disappears, FBI says
Published June 04, 2017 Fox News
In this Monday, Oct 7, 2013 file photo, attorney Eric Conn gestures as he invokes his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington.
In this Monday, Oct 7, 2013 file photo, attorney Eric Conn gestures as he invokes his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP)
A Kentucky disability attorney who stole $600 million from the federal government has disappeared, the FBI said.
Eric Conn pleaded guilty in March to stealing from the federal government and bribing a judge. He was ordered to pay back tens of millions of dollars. His sentencing was scheduled for next month.
The FBI said Saturday that Conn violated the conditions of his bond by removing his electronic monitoring device which prompted the U.S. District Court to issue a warrant for his arrest.
General counsel for the FBI’s Louisville office, David Habich, said that Conn’s “whereabouts are currently unknown.”
Conn started his practice in 1993 and has since built one of the most lucrative disability firms in the country. Known as “Mr. Social Security,” Conn built a persona for himself using outlandish TV commercials.
But Conn’s empire crumbled when federal investigators uncovered he had been bribing a doctor and a judge to approve disability claims based on fake medical evidence. As part of his plea deal in March, he agreed to pay the federal government $5.7 million and to reimburse Social Security $46 million. A federal judge ordered Conn to pay $12 million in damages and $19 million in penalties to the government and two former Social Security employees who tried to expose the scheme. And Conn is also facing a liability judgment from a class action lawsuit brought by his former clients, with a hearing scheduled for later this month to determine the damages.
The scandal prompted the federal government to review the eligibility of about 1,500 people receiving benefits, more than half of the people lost their benefits as a result.
עורך דין אמריקאי המתמחה בתביעות של נכים הורשע בגנבת 600 מיליון דולר מהממשלה הפדרלית בארה”ב, אך לפתע נעלם – כך הודיע הבוקר (יום א’) האף-בי-איי.
אריק קון הודה בחודש מרץ באישומים נגדו, שכללו גנבה מהממשלה ומתן שוחד לשופט ורופאים. גזר דינו אמור היה להינתן בחודש הבא, ובינתיים הורו לו הרשויות לשלם עשרות מיליוני דולרים בחזרה לממשל.
אלא שעורך הדין לא היה כל כך צייתן, כך מתברר. הבולשת הפדרלית הודיעה כי הוא הפר את תנאי מעצרו כשהסיר את האזיק האלקטרוני שלו, ועל כן הוציא נגדו בית משפט צו מעצר. באף-בי-איי הודיעו כעת כי מקום הימצאו של קון אינו ידוע.
עורך הדין הקים חברה בשנת 1993, שהפכה לאחת המרכזיות בארה”ב בתחום התביעות של אנשים עם מוגבלות. קון, שהשתמש בפרסומות רבות כדי לקדם את עצמו, זכה אף לכינוי “אדון ביטוח לאומי”.
אלא שאז גם נפל עורך הדין: חקירות של האף-בי-איי גילו כי הוא שיחד רופאים ואף שופט כדי לאשר טענות של נכות ללקוחותיו, בהתבסס על דו”חות רפואיים מזויפים. כמו כן, הוגשה נגדו תביעה מטעם לקוחותיו לשעבר, שאמורה להתברר בחודש הבא אף היא.
זאת, משום שבעקבות חשיפת הפרשה החלה הממשלה הפדרלית לבחון את מצבם של כ-1,500 מלקוחותיו, ולפחות מחצית מהם איבדו את הקצבאות שהיו זכאים להם בעקבות כך.
בתום עסקת הטיעון הורה בית המשפט לקון לשלם 5.7 מיליון דולר לממשלה, וכן לשפות את הביטוח הלאומי בנזק של 46 מיליון דולר. כסף נוסף נפסק לטובת שני עובדים של הביטוח הלאומי שביקשו לחשוף את הפרשה, והותקפו בחריפות בידי עורך הדין.
כעת יבקשו רשויות החוק לאתר אותו לפני שיברח מהמדינה ויתחמק מהמשטרה לנצח.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The FBI is offering a $20,000 reward this morning to find eastern Kentucky attorney Eric Conn.
Conn is wanted for removing his GPS ankle monitor while he was out on bail awaiting trial for his role in a $550 million social security fraud scheme.
Conn is a prominent former attorney in eastern Kentucky who once ran one of the largest disability practices in the nation.
Conn’s location is currently unknown, but the FBI believes he is still in the United States.
Anyone with information is asked to called the Louisville FBI office at (502) 263-6000.