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Defrauding ICBC an 'ignorant' mistake

Dear editor, I am writing to apologize; I was recently caught committing fraud.

Dear editor,I am writing to apologize; I was recently caught committing fraud. I was ignorant to think I would get away with collecting injury compensation while I was working. I truly am sorry for what I have done and am ready to accept the consequences.I have a complete understanding of what wrong I have done and now know to never do it again. To make up for it, I am willing to pay back the moneys I received while I was working. I received compensation cheques for two months when I shouldn’t have been working, so I think it's only fair you should get that back. I have also been assigned community service hours.I feel embarrassed and stupid, especially now putting what I did in writing. I hope you have it in you to accept my apology and forgive me.I was involved in a multiple bone-breaking car accident while working last winter. I was trying to pay off my student loan from college and perhaps make a dent in my credit card debt from when I was going to school. I worked only one month in total when the accident happened. The small amount of money I earned hardly gave me enough to support myself through the six- to eight-month recovery.When I was finally able to walk I visited a company close to home and was hired on the spot. I was ecstatic, knowing I’ll be almost able to pay my huge minimum loan payment every month. But the new job didn’t pay much so I decided not to tell ICBC so that their compensation cheques would keep coming.Greed had sunken in and for once in a long time thought I would finally be financially secure.That’s where I was wrong, and I realize that if everyone withheld this kind of information, the system wouldn’t work. The person working these claims doesn’t want to assume everyone is trying to rip them off, they want to have faith and trust people are telling them the truth.This is what I am apologizing for. If I could take it back, I would in a second. I realize how lucky I am that ICBC went easy on me and didn’t charge me through the legal system where I would have had a permanent criminal record at such a young age.From now on I, no matter the situation will tell the truth because lying only gets you in trouble and who knows, maybe there’s another solution.Name withheldEditor's note: This letter was written as a condition of a settlement reached with the help of the Comox Valley community Justice Centre.