Happy Wednesday, dear readers!

It is a rare thing indeed when your humble blogger has good news to report.  Sometimes writing this blog reminds your humble blogger of an article headline from TheOnion: “man who thought he’d lost all hope loses last additional bit of hope he didn’t even know he still had.” 

But, today, your humble blogger does have a rare gem of good news for you!  Earlier this month a court in Ventura, California, ordered a former firefighter to pay almost $200,000 in restitution to the Ventura County Fire Department, and an additional $30,000 in criminal fines, following his guilty plea to fraud charges.

Perry Adam Lieber of Santa Barbara plead guilty to filing a false workers’ compensation claim earlier this year.

We needn’t wait for Festivus to air our grievances on this blog, dear readers.  Although it is good news that the victims of this fraud will be brought closer to being made whole, this is hardly the whole story.  Many instances of fraud are not discovered, and many of those that are discovered are still difficult to prove to the point of a conviction (or a guilty plea).  The resources of the prosecutor’s office are also limited, and not all cases can be investigated and prosecuted.  

But, at least for today, there is some good news for defendants everywhere – it is possible to secure an order of restitution, send a message to other employees considering a fraudulent claim, and, most of all, ridding oneself of a dishonest employee.

See you on Friday, dear readers!