The owner of a St. Louis, Missouri fossil replica company was indicted and accused of fraudulently seeking disability benefits, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Missouri announced.
Scott A. Taylor, 50, is still on probation from a prior disability fraud case. The new indictment, on one count of making a false statement, accuses him of applying for Social Security disability benefits on Jan. 28, 2026, claiming that he had not worked since 1993. The indictment says Taylor has been self-employed since 2014.
A charge set forth in an indictment is merely an accusation and does not constitute proof of guilt. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Taylor’s disability benefits were initially discontinued after an investigation by the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General. Taylor pleaded guilty in…
PAYROLL & HR CONTROLS (PREVENTING “GHOST” SCHEMES)
Payroll fraud is often the hardest to detect because it “looks” like a normal business expense.
- Segregation of Duties (SoD): The person who adds new employees to the system must not be the same person who approves the monthly pay run.
- Mandatory Vacation Policy: Require all financial and HR staff to take 5–10 consecutive days of leave annually. Fraud often surfaces when the perpetrator isn’t there to “hide” the trail.
- Ghost Employee Audit: Perform a quarterly “Headcount Reconciliation” where managers must physically verify every name on their payroll list exists.
- Self-Pay Blocking: Ensure the payroll software has a hard-coded block preventing administrators from editing their own salary or bank details.