Christopher Robin Briejer of Puyallup was arraigned in Pierce County Superior Court Thursday on state charges that he misrepresented claims to the State Department of Labor and Industries.
The state contends that between January of 2004 and April of 2008, Briejer received 121 state checks totaling $258,995 for time-loss compensation, $75,295 in vocational retraining and $75,295 in medical services, plus vocational rehabilitation benefits – for a total of $336,000.
Briejer pleaded not guilty and was released on his own recognizance. He is not yet represented by an attorney.
Briejer first claimed compensation following an injury in early 2000, the state said in its court filing, and he refiled the claim four years later. Briejer, the state says, suffered a subsequent injury – whereas Briejer said his worsened condition was due to the original injury, suffered when under the state’s insurance umbrella.
The department “stopped benefit payments after an investigation determined that Briejer had suffered an unrelated injury in October 2003. At the time, he was self-employed and not paying for workers’ compensation insurance,” L and I will say in a press release due to be released later today.
Each count against Briejer carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine. The court could also order him to repay the $366,000 in benefits collected illegally, if the charges are proven.
In a phone conversation, Briejer last evening denied the charges. “They’ve been harassing me for years,” he said of L and I investigators. “They took every check the sent me, every payment, and made that a theft charge.
“Their claims are wrong,” he said.
A retired carpenter currently subsisting on state DSHS payments – the L and I payments have stopped – Briejer said, “I have a permanent back injury with permanent damage to my spine.”
The charging documents mention “Briejer’s activities such as mountain climbing and ‘rock crawling.’”
Last evening he said he attempts to keep himself in good physical condition. In his 40s, Briejer last climbed Mount Rainier in 2008, he said.
“It doesn’t take a back to climb a mountain, it takes legs,” he said. “I’m an active injured person. Even though I’m injured, I take care of my body. My doctors are 100 percent in favor of me hiking.”
L and I began investigating Briejer based on an anonymous tip on its fraud Web site, www.Fraud.Lni.wa.gov. Anyone who suspects fraud may also call L and I’s fraud hotline at 888-811-5974.
“The information from the public was vital to our investigation,” says Carl Hammersburg, manager of L and I’s Fraud Prevention and Compliance Program, in today’s release. “Reporting your suspicions about fraud helps protect legitimate employers and their injured workers who really deserve benefits.”