A North Carolina postal carrier was convicted of fraud Monday after she was caught appearing on a television game show while collecting disability benefits.
Cathy Wrench Cashwell was spotted during an appearance on “The Price Is Right,” reports WRAL.
Cashwell initially filed the claim in 2004, saying she couldn’t lift mail trays due to a “shoulder injury” sustained on the job. However, in 2009 she appeared on the popular gameshow and spun the big wheel twice, clearly not hampered by an injury. In her first spin, Cashwell lifts her left hand above her head to move the wheel; in her second spin, she reaches both hands above her head.
The indictment also notes that Cashwell and her husband went on a cruise in 2010 where they both went ziplining. Cashwell’s claim in 2011 stated that she couldn’t stand, sit, kneel, squat, climb, bend, reach or grasp.
Private investigator Allison Blackman estimates that around 30 percent of workers comp filed in North Carolina are false.
“The secret is you’ve got to have your camera up, when they do what they’re doing,” she said.
Cashwell is scheduled to be sentenced in September.
Though “Price Is Right” contestants where street clothes, contestants on “Let’s Make a Deal” are encouraged to wear flamboyant costumes. It is unclear whether any federal workers have made gameshow appearances in disguise while receiving disability compensation.
