“The California Department of Insurance Fraud Division is kept very busy with investigations into untruthful business owners who try to avoid paying for workers’ compensation insurance.  Not having this coverage puts employees at risk should they become injured on the job.” – CSLEA President Alan Barcelona

VENTURA COUNTY – On June 1, 2022, the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office announced that Ivar Mollinedo, 34, of Thousand Oaks, was sentenced to 60 days in the Ventura County Jail and placed on probation for one year for committing workers’ compensation insurance fraud. Mollinedo paid $7,435 in restitution to the victim, Markel Insurance (Markel) prior to being sentenced.

Mollinedo knowingly misrepresented to Markel that he was the sole owner and employee of his company, Preferred Turf. An investigation by the California Department of Insurance (CDI) determined Mollinedo underreported both the true number of employees and cash payroll from February 2019 through February 2020. As a result, Mollinedo fraudulently underpaid $7,435 in workers’ compensation insurance premiums to Markel. Also, his employees were not provided proper insurance coverage in the event of an on-the-job injury.

This case was investigated by the CDI Fraud Division, Valencia Field Office, and prosecuted by the District Attorney’s Office Workers’ Compensation Insurance Fraud Unit.