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As part of our website we try to provide as much information as possible for free to the public. In February of 2006 the Illinois Workers' Compensation Act was amended and included authorization of a new fraud prevention unit to investigate charges of fraud in relation to Illinois work injury filings. This page provides detailed information about this new aspect of the Workers' Compensation Act. For more information about Illinois Workers' Compensation please visitour main workers compensation page, http://www.findgreatlawyers.com/WorkersCompensation.htm.

Fraud: An intentional perversion of truth for the purpose of inducing another in reliance upon it to part with some valuable thing belonging to him or to surrender a legal right.

I. Legislative Intent
For the first time, Illinois joined the ranks of other states and established a Fraud Prevention Unit to investigate charges of fraud including uninsured employers and fraudulent claims by employees.

II. Fraud Unit
Section 25.5 is a new provision of to the Act which establishes a Workers' Compensation Fraud Unit within the Illinois Department of Insurance to address complaints of fraud by both employees and employers. The Fraud Unit is charged with determining the identity of insurance carriers, employers, employees, or other persons or entities who violate the fraud and insurance non-compliance provisions of the Act. The Fraud Unit, shall report violations to the Attorney General or the State's Attorney of the county in which the offense allegedly occurred, either of whom has the authority to prosecute violations.

A. Reporting instances of Fraud
Any person or entity may report an allegation of insurance non-compliance or fraud to the Fraud Unit. The person or entity reporting an allegation of non-compliance or fraud, must identify himself. All reports are kept confidential except to refer an investigation to the Attorney General's office or State's Attorney's office for prosecution. Any person or entity who intentionally makes a false report of fraud or non-compliance to the Fraud Unit is guilty of a class A misdemeanor. Furthermore, it is unlawful for any employer insurance carrier, or service adjustment company to file or threaten to file a report of fraud against an employee because of the exercise by the employee of the rights and remedies under the Act.

A class A misdemeanor is punishable by up to one year in jail and up to a $1,000.00 fine.

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