Q’orianka Kilcher, an actor who has appeared in “the new world” and “Yellowstone,” is facing criminal charges for allegedly collecting disability benefits even though she was able to work.
Kilcher has been charged with two felony counts of workers’ compensation fraud. She allegedly collected 96,838 in benefits after injuring her neck and shoulder during filming of “DORA AND THE LOST CITY OF GOLD.”
But investigators from the California Department of Insurance found that she was healthy enough to work on “Yellowstone” the following year, during a time that she claimed she was disabled, according to a news release issued by the department on Monday.
The department announced the charges Monday, though Kilcher was arraigned and pleaded not guilty on May 27. In a statement to Variety, her attorney denied the allegations and said that Kilcher “never intentionally accepted benefits that she did not believe she was entitled to.”
Investigations later reviewed wage statements and found that Kilcher had worked on “Yellowstone” from July 2019 to October 2019 just before seeking treatment. That job had ended just five days before Kilcher began collecting benefits, according to the department. The doctor later said that he would never have approved the payments had he known of her recent work history, the department alleged.
Kilcher’s attorney denied that she had ever been deceptive. “Third-party doctors verified her injury and entitlement to benefits,” Becker said in the statement. “Ms. Kilcher was at all times candid with her doctors and treatment providers.” The attorney said that she also provided regular updates to her caseworker at the division of workers’ compensation.