Niesha Lofing
Sacramento Bee
August 6, 2008
A Sacramento man pled guilty Tuesday to stealing government property and making a false statement to obtain Workers' Compensation benefits.

Dirulislam Bilal Abdullah, 53, had forged his father's signature in order to keep receiving his father's Workers' Compensation pay after he died, and then forged his mother's information to keep receiving the benefits after she died.

Abdullah's father, Abdul-Kabeer Abdullah, began receiving about $2,500 a month in Workers' Comp benefits from the Department of Labor under the Federal Employees Compensation Act (FECA) beginning in 1979. Abdul-Kabeer Abdullah died of lung cancer in November 1999, according to a news release by U.S. Attorney McGregor Scott's office.

After his death, his son completed three Department of Labor forms and forged his father's signature in order to keep receiving benefits. The money was deposited into a checking account that Abdullah used to pay his mother's mortgage, life insurance premiums, daily living expenses, credit card bills, health club dues and car repairs, the release states.

Abdullah also paid $800 to his wife to care for his mother.

Abdullah's mother died in February 2003. About one month later, Abdullah forged and submitted another Department of Labor form. In the document, Abdullah stated that his father was still alive and entitled to Workers' Compensation benefits. He continued to use his father's Workers' Comp payments to make mortgage payments on his parents' home, the release states.

The department continued to pay benefits to Abdul-Kabeer Abdullah after his death as a result of the forged documents. Until the benefits were terminated in January 2004, Abdullah had stolen $144,366 in Workers' Comp pay from the Department of Labor, the release states.

Abdullah is scheduled to be sentenced in federal court by U.S. District Judge Lawrence K. Karlton on Oct. 15.

He faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release for stealing government property. The maximum punishment for making a false statement to obtain employees' compensation is five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release.