The District Attorney’s Office for Riverside County has announced charges against 14 Southern California residents for their alleged roles in a workers’ compensation fraud scheme that cost insurance providers more than $22 million.
The defendants are being charged in three separate cases with a variety of counts, including conspiracy, insurance fraud, receiving kickbacks, and capping.
Two owners of a long-haul trucking company based in Sacramento, CA, have been charged for allegedly misclassifying employees and underreporting payroll in a scheme to defraud their insurer and the Employment Development Department out of $450,000 in insurance premiums.
Hardip Singh, 44, and Amandeep Kaur, 36, were charged with multiple counts of insurance fraud. It is unclear if they have acquired legal representation.
A mother and son who owned and operated two construction businesses in San Ramon, CA, have pleaded guilty to charges stemming from their alleged refusal to pay for workers’ compensation coverage and payroll taxes.
Selina Singh, 57, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit insurance fraud, payroll tax fraud, and insurance premium fraud. Her son, 30-year-old Kabir Singh, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit insurance premium fraud and insurance premium fraud. They both also admitted to an aggravated white-collar crime enhancement for a loss exceeding $500,000 through a pattern of alleged criminal activity.
A California construction worker who allegedly claimed the injuries he suffered in a fight were work-related has been arraigned in Merced County Superior Court for workers’ compensation insurance fraud.
Meliton Hernandez Martinez Jr., 23, of Atwarter faces felony counts of insurance fraud and a misdemeanor count of filing a false police report. It is unclear if he has acquired the services of an attorney.
A San Jose police officer is facing charges in Santa Clara County for allegedly using his private security firm to commit insurance fraud and launder millions of dollars.
Robert Foster, 47, of Morgan Hill, was charged with conspiracy to commit insurance fraud, wage theft, and money laundering. Other defendants named in the complaint include Foster’s wife, Mikaila Foster; Nam Trong Le, 49, of San Jose; Margarita Trigo Rocha, 25, of San Martin; Victor Rene Parra, 33, of San Jose; Jose Meza, 39, of San Jose; Alberto Emmanuel Martinez, 33, of Modesto; Jason Albert King, 48, of Fremont; Richard McDiarmid, 59, a former Emeryville police officer; and Victoria Lorraine Cruz, 48, a former Santa Clara police dispatcher. They were similarly charged with four counts of felony conspiracy to commit insurance fraud, unemployment insurance fraud, money laundering, wage theft, and 39 additional felonies, including extortion and a white-collar crime enhancement.
Criminal Defense and Civil Forfeiture Blog