Jury finds former Anheuser-Busch employee guilty in disability payments scheme

On Tuesday, a federal jury in St. Louis found an ex-Anheuser-Busch worker guilty of numerous charges in connection with a scheme to pay disability benefits.

The U.S. Attorney's Office of St. Louis announced that Elizabeth Guetersloh (67), of Jefferson County was found guilty in all 26 felony counts for fraudulently claiming disability benefits from the Social Security Administration. Her trial began May 8.

Guetersloh, according to the feds, is one of several former Anheuser Busch employees who visited Thomas Hobbs, a Jefferson County chiropractic doctor, in order to claim false disability payments. Hobbs, 65 years old, admitted to conspiring with others to commit crimes such as health care fraud, false statements, thefts of government funds, and Social Security fraud. He pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge in January. Hobbs, co-owner at Arnold chiropractic clinic Power-Med Inc. charged between $2,000 to $8,600 for preparing disability forms, and instructed patients to lie about their abilities to perform basic tasks, according to the feds. His patients received fraudulently more than $3,500,000 from the Social Security Administration, and private disability insurance companies.

Guetersloh claimed to be severely limited in her mental and physical functioning. She received more than $331 557 in disability benefits. They said that she did dance, ride roller coasters, go to wineries, drive long distances, and travel domestically and internationally.

In February, the feds announced that Vivian Carbone-Hobbs (Hobbs' ex-wife and Power-Med co-owner), 60, from Fenton, as well as Christina Barrera, aged 63 in St. Louis and Clarissa Pogue, 39 in DeSoto were all convicted by a separate jury of conspiracy to commit fraud against the Social Security Administration. Carbone-Hobbs, who was also convicted on 10 counts of health insurance fraud and 2 counts of stealing money from the U.S.