'Blind' Man Caught Driving Committed Disability Fraud

Disability

fraud

may be robbing taxpayers

blind

, with some scammers claiming to be totally

blind

and collecting

disability

after a workplace accident. So what happens when they are

caught

on video

driving

or even boating tonight? Government investigators give us an inside look at how they get

caught

. in the act here's ABC's chief business and technology correspondent Rebecca Jarvis John Kelty beyond Oh he seems to need a lot of help here his girlfriend takes him to his

disability

hearing in Hudson, New York, he claimed he couldn't drive, he didn't know cook. For him yes, she says that she lost her sight in a work accident two years before. “I sit in the dark and listen to TV,” he said in his benefits application.

I can't move around the house much because I bump into things and get hurt, but before you start feeling sorry for him, check out this video recorded a few days before, yes, it's the same John Cal he's in. Oh, it looks like he's reading. You can see it outside a store. He seems to be reading something here. A miracle for someone. who can't see that disability

fraud

is a big problem in the United States last year the Social Security Administration received 90,000 complaints to investigate we received accusations from several sources Michael Robinson is the deputy inspector general for investigations of the Social Security Administration What year we obtained 1,200 convictions and the return of 225 million dollars for you and me, the taxpayers, when it comes to making an assessment of how many there are, we know how much our attention has been drawn and we really trust those accusations of fraud that So when word came in that John Cal would be in Oh, U.S.

Attorney Richard Hartunian and his counterparts at the Social Security Administration rushed to investigate surveillance people, which can be a challenge. Working with videos like this there can be a lot to do. working here with John Cal Toby ah not as the chivalrous blind gentleman in a strange way for someone who might want the door held open for him this is not the guy we saw getting out of his car with his ex girlfriends at all the investigation tour let's say that Cal TV in Oh did indeed lose sight in one eye in a workplace incident, but there is no indication that the other is affected.

Let's put it this way, if a blind man was doing this, here you see the defendant

driving

a vehicle and look he is even able to avoid hitting that woman who was pushing a shopping cart it must be his sixth sense he said it was phototrophic so couldn't go out in daylight said she couldn't exercise couldn't pay bills or read medicine labels It's all fake according to feds Keltie Bianna was on her way to stealing $1.3 million in benefits before she was caught . It's so common. It is common in the world of fraud for people to make claims that simply are not true.

More than 7,000 cases are opened each year. of suspected scammers trying to deceive this system at approximately 8:03 a.m. like this guy, okay, surveillance on the horns, pop, you're looking at another federal sting operation in progress. Lorenz pop has no idea that government agents are following him and they may want to exercise. Caution because no matter what urine comes out, at least that's what the Milwaukee businessman made people believe when he claimed he was too blind to drive. Larry has been collecting Social Security disability payments for his blindness for years while he was living the high life. traveling the world and spending like there's no tomorrow Lawrence Pape is walking to the Social Security office.

He's here today to make sure those payments keep coming, but the tape reveals one thing. Lawrence Pape is very good at lying. Do you like that Cal is Auto pop? He actually had some legitimate vision problem in 2004, when he signed up for disability benefits, but he promised to notify the department if his medical condition improved or if he got a job or earned income. His eyes improved and he generated a lot. of income but taking advantage Larry decided to keep those details to himself there were trips to Italy Florida the Cayman Islands he even spent time driving a motor boat towing water skiers around a lake Larry is a person who likes money oh yeah so There's ex-wife Kimberly Pop who confirms Larry's lavish spending but said the same rules didn't apply to her.

I was on a strict budget, not only could I overspend, but I could also overact, sometimes appearing to cry at the Social Security office in a truly Oscar-worthy performance. I'm sorry. Sorry, yes, I don't need to do that to you, even the father's own lawyer didn't buy his act. Was he really crying? I definitely wasn't telling the truth here and I knew I wasn't telling the truth, so what do you do? Do you think it was about Larry's case? I know, I know what it was, you had an ex-wife who dropped the dime, yes, Kimberly is indirectly responsible for helping catch the false blind man, the turning point when the IRS went after her claiming she was owed thousands dollars in back taxes.

It turns out that Lauren's doll applied for benefits not only for himself but for the entire family and pocketed every last cent. In the end, you were the one who gave him away. He wasn't going to take the blame for something he was doing. illegal in all the feds say Larry fraudulently collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments from the government in January 2014. The days of freeloading are over. He was sentenced to a year in jail and had to return the stolen money if he had not been caught. red-handed, do you think he would still be scamming the system?

Larry was released from prison last year and on a frigid Milwaukee morning he turned his back on ABC News. Hello, Mr. Rebecca Jarvis. ABC News, does he regret stealing that money from you? taxpayers, why did he lie in the interview? Why did he lie in the interview? Sir, I have had no answers for us and in upstate New York neither has John Cal to be in Oh who was sentenced to almost 5 years for federal mail fraud. Last month his lawyer says he is appealing his case his girlfriend who didn't leave him a penny is serving 3 years of probation and for any scam he is considering buying some dark glasses and a cane Michael Robinson has a message we are going to do everything What We Can to Ensure Those Who Violate the Public Trust Are Held Accountable by Nightline I'm Rebecca Jarvis in Albany