Woman Arrested in Worker’s Comp Case

A North Hills woman was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of illegally receiving more than $6,400 in worker’s compensation funds, according to state Department of Insurance officials.

Annette Texon, 34, surrendered at the Criminal Courts Building in downtown Los Angeles and was booked into Los Angeles County Jail on suspicion of providing a false material statement and perjury--both felonies, said Dana Spurrier, a spokeswoman for state Insurance Commissioner Chuck Quackenbush. Texon was later released on recognizance, Spurrier said.

If convicted, Texon could face a maximum penalty of seven years in state prison and a $50,000 fine.

Texon said she hurt her back after picking up a child in June 1992 while working as a part-time teacher’s aide for University Synagogue’s child-care center in West Los Angeles.

The next month, she filed a worker’s compensation claim with the State Compensation Insurance Fund, her employer’s insurer. She was awarded monthly payments for disability and vocational rehabilitation, Spurrier said.

Spurrier said state insurance fraud investigators discovered Texon had worked in 1995 while receiving vocational rehabilitation benefits.

During a deposition in December 1997, Texon said she still suffered back pain and had surgery. The insurance fund did not authorize the surgery, but an HMO did, Spurrier said.

Texon was covered by an HMO while working at 3G Video in Canoga Park when she sought medical treatment and surgery, Spurrier said. Investigators determined she gave the video store a different Social Security number than the one she filed with State Compensation Insurance Fund.

Texon told the doctor she had not worked since 1992. State insurance fraud investigators allege that Texon lied about her employment status so she could keep receiving vocational rehabilitation benefits, Spurrier said.