FRANKFORT, Ky. — An eastern Kentucky disability lawyer scheduled to be sentenced next month for defrauding the government of nearly $600 million has disappeared, the FBI said.
Eric Conn pleaded guilty in March to stealing from the federal government and bribing a judge. He was scheduled to be sentenced next month and had been ordered to pay the government tens of millions of dollars.
But Saturday, the FBI said Conn removed his electronic monitoring device, violating the conditions of his bond and prompting the U.S. District Court to issue a warrant for his arrest. David Habich, general counsel for the FBI’s Louisville office, said Conn’s “whereabouts are currently unknown.”
A call to Conn’s lawyer was not returned.
Conn started his law practice in a trailer in 1993 and built it into one of the most lucrative disability law firms in the country. He created a persona for himself as “Mr. Social Security,” fueled by outlandish TV commercials and small-scale replicas of the Statute of Liberty and the Lincoln Memorial at his office in rural eastern Kentucky.
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.
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National Disability Insurance Scheme: Funding going to animal whisperers, soul counsellors and spiritual coaches
- NDIS to give Western Sydney $2bn boost
- Two out of three fear NDIS cost blowouts
- Mentally ill could endanger public: government agency
HORSE whispering, energy healing, yoga and soul counselling classes are all being billed to taxpayers as thousands of companies cash in on the $22 billion disability scheme.
Unconventional treatments are being funded from the public purse as the federal government slugs Australians with a higher Medicare levy to cover cost blowouts in its National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
An investigation by The Daily Telegraph can reveal some service providers are being paid to care for family members.
Hundreds of personal trainers, yoga instructors, toy companies, cleaners and lawn-mowing services are among the 6814 NDIS providers. Even accountants have signed up, offering “plan management’’ services to advise disabled clients how to spend their NDIS cash.
Under the NDIS, Australians with disabilities can receive up to $100,000 a year to spend on “reasonable and necessary supports’’ — paid to their provider of choice.
One-third of NDIS clients have an intellectual disability and 28 per cent have autism.
“We’re not here to rip anyone off. I’m paying tax too.’’
A Sydney recruitment firm, Red Dot Recruitment, is listed as a provider of accommodation, travel, personal training, plan management, specialist driver training and therapeutic supports.
Company director Neil Dundon yesterday said the company had not yet helped anyone with disabilities.
“We’re actually not really doing anything on it at the moment,’’ he said. “We’re entitled to register. I can’t really shed any extra light on it.’’
Baulkham Hills company A1 Packing House Australia, which provides promotional bags and packing services, is registered as a provider of travel and transport assistance.
Company owner Steve Roach said he had registered “to look after a young girl who is autistic’’.
He said the girl was not his daughter but “a very close member of the family’’.
“(I provide) day-to-day care that is required,’’ he said. “I’m doing it according to the rules and regulations. We’re not here to rip anyone off. I’m paying tax too.’’
A National Disability Insurance Agency spokesman said it was “not a widespread practice’’ for relatives to get funding to care for family members — but admitted it did not keep count.
“Funding of family members to provide support is not allowed under the NDIS unless there (are) exceptional circumstances,’’ he said.
“This may be when there are no available alternatives ... or where the participant has strong cultural or personal views.’’
Counsellor Saan Ecker is NDIS-registered to provide therapeutic supports through Peakgrove Solutions, which offers “equine-assisted psychotherapy’’.
Ms Ecker said she had one dozen clients with autism or mental illnesses such as post-traumatic stress disorder.
She said clients had to lead around “high-spirited, very independent Arabian horses’’ without touching them.
Ms Ecker said the horses had a calming effect, helping clients “get on top of their emotional regulation’’.
“They get incredible social skills,’’ she said. “It looks like horse whispering.”