April 23, 2014
Staff Reports The Daily Citizen

A man is being held in the Whitfield County Jail on multiple charges for using a fraudulent Social Security card with someone else’s Social Security number to land a job at a rug manufacturer in Dalton and for providing false information to receive workers’ compensation benefits, according to the Georgia State Board of Workers’ Compensation’s Enforcement Division.

Jose Antonio Hernandez Oceguera, 38, is charged with first degree forgery. He is also charged with four counts of making false and misleading statements when obtaining workers’ compensation benefits and four felony counts of giving false statements to a government agency.

Hernandez was arrested on Saturday, April 19, and taken to the Whitfield County Jail. He is also being held for outstanding warrants taken in Fulton County, along with a hold for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Investigators say Hernandez was seeking a job when he provided a fraudulent Social Security card bearing his name and the Social Security number of another person to Garland Sales, a rug manufacturer in Dalton, “on or about November 2010.”

“The investigation determined the Social Security number used by Hernandez belongs to another person living in Tennessee and was used by Hernandez to provide false information to the State Board of Workers’ Compensation in conjunction with an injury Hernandez claims to have suffered on the job,” according to the Enforcement Division.

An official with the Enforcement Division said the investigation lasted a year.

“At this point we cannot provide any additional information because this is an active case,” Enforcement Division Director Stan Bexley said.

Garland Sales was founded in 1974 and is a manufacturer and supplier of “fashionable tufted area rugs and decorator bath rugs,” according to its website. The company employs more than 350 workers and has several buildings at its home off Antioch Road.

http://www.daltondailycitizen.com/lo...-Security-card