CA: Farm Employees Medical Mistreatment Reveals Siblings Alleged $1.four Million Employees Comp Fraud Scheme
CA: Medical abuse of farm workers reveals siblings? Alleged $ 1.4 million workers? Comp Fraud Scheme
- 04/19/21
- WorkersCompensation.com
Monterey, CA (WorkersCompensation.com) – Farm labor company owners and siblings Elias Perez, 40, of Greenfield and Alejandra Perez, 37, of Soledad, have been charged with over 20 insurance and tax fraud crimes after allegedly breaking wages and salaries Payroll reported more than $ 17 million, resulting in a loss of over $ 1.42 million for their insurance companies. The Ministry of Insurance discovered the alleged fraud after learning that an injured employee was being treated by an unlicensed professional from a garage.
The Perezes own farm labor contractors in Greenfield, PFL Contracting Inc., Future Ag Management, Inc. (FAM) and Future Harvesters and Packers, Inc. (FHP), which primarily employ farm workers to harvest crops.
An investigation by the Ministry of Insurance on June 28, 2016 revealed that an employee of a Perezes, FAM company sustained a work-related back injury when he stumbled and fell during harvest. The Perezes, along with a FAM supervisor, allegedly failed to provide the injured employee with the necessary professional medical treatment. For two weeks, the FAM supervisor took the injured worker to see an unlicensed professional who ran a business from his garage.
More than two weeks after the worker was injured, Elias Perez filed a claim for damages with his insurance company, stating that the worker injury occurred on July 7, 2016.
“The suspected insurance fraud program that our detectives uncovered revealed that these siblings decided to sacrifice the safety of a vulnerable farm worker for their own gains,” said Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara. “We will continue to crack down on those who try to harm California workers and honest businesses. We all pay the price for this type of scam in higher insurance premiums and higher costs. “
FAM and FHP received employee compensation policies from two different insurance companies. A comparison of records from insurance companies and the California Department of Employment Development (EDD) revealed large discrepancies in the payroll reported by the Perezes. From July 2014 to August 2017, they reported to EDD that FAM and FHP paid $ 28,521,347 in wages, while reporting only $ 23,246,922 to their insurance companies over the same period.
As part of the investigation, the Department of Insurance issued search warrants to banks and conducted a thorough payroll review and review, which found that FAM and FHP actually paid wages in excess of $ 41 million from July 2014 to August 2017. They allegedly reported less than $ 17 million in wages, which resulted in an approximately $ 1.42 million premium owed to their insurance companies. Additionally, the Perezes reported the PFL, FAM, and FHP’s wages to EDD of approximately $ 12.8 million, potentially resulting in $ 1.28 million in unpaid taxes.
The FAM also had an employee compensation policy with another insurance company for the contract work of Perezes in Arizona. Records obtained from this insurance company and the Arizona Department of Economic Security indicated additional inconsistencies in their reporting and were included in this review and investigation.
Elias Perez was charged with five offenses and Alejandra Perez was charged with 21 offenses. Both were indicted in the Monterey County Supreme Court on Wednesday April 14, 2021. The Monterey County Attorney’s Office is pursuing this case.
Remarks
Be the first to add a comment!
You need to log in or register to read and comment!
login for members
Don’t have an account yet? click Here to register.
Comments are closed.