Eureste Disbarred for WC Fraud:

Texas Mutual Insurance Company reported that the Texas State Bar has permanently disbarred Bernardo Eureste, a Houston attorney and former San Antonio city councilman. Eureste has not practiced law since June 2002, when he was sentenced to three years’ probation for workers’ compensation fraud-related charges. Eureste’s workers’ comp problems began when Texas Mutual (then known as the Texas Workers’ Compensation Insurance Fund) uncovered billing irregularities by Eureste’s law firm. The investigators shared their findings with the Texas Workers’ Compensation Commission (TWCC) and the FBI. Eureste was found to have devised a scheme to defraud his clients by submitting false claims and often billing identical hours on different clients without any variation. Eureste reportedly billed for an average of 90 hours a week, including billings for weekends and holidays. The scheme allowed Eureste to receive up to 25 percent of his clients’ temporary income benefits (TIBs). Assistant Disciplinary Counsel Michael E. McClendon said Eureste had stolen from his clients, many of whom were poorly educated, lower income injured workers. It was estimated that Eureste over-billed his clients by as much as $1.4 million in a one-year period.