CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey is bulking up his staff and partnering with the Social Security Administration in an effort to prevent disability fraud, he announced Tuesday.
During a telephone interview with The Herald-Dispatch, Morrisey said he is hiring two investigators and an analyst to specifically examine disability cases and present their findings to the federal court.
Morrisey said the joint team, which involves cooperation from the state Department of Determination Services and other state and federal offices, won’t make recommendations on how a court should rule in a given case, but will present facts on whether a claim seems legitimate and leave the decision to the judge.
Corruption in the disability benefits system in West Virginia was on national display when the U.S. Senate conducted a hearing in 2013 examining cases from disability attorney Eric C. Conn that were funneled through by Huntington administrative law judges – David B. Daugherty, in particular – in which benefits were granted at a staggering rate…
