View this article online: https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/west/2013/12/09/313444.htm
Richard Lopez Escamilla Jr., 47, was sentenced in Kings County Superior Court in California on Dec.4 to one felony count of insurance fraud and was ordered to pay restitution of nearly $4.2 million to State Compensation Insurance Fund, SeaBright Insurance and Employment Development Division.
Escamilla was also sentenced to serve six years in prison for defrauding two insurance companies by underreporting employee payroll and unemployment insurance tax evasion.
In a joint investigation with the King’s County district attorney’s office and the Employment Development Department, investigators uncovered evidence that Escamilla, owner of ROC Harvesting, a farm labor contracting company allegedly misrepresented previous claim information to his insurer in order to illegally reduce his workers’ compensation premium.
Additionally, Escamilla underreported his employee payroll to further reduce his premium costs.