Brian Hill, 64, and Leslie Hill, 68, a husband and wife from Bakersfield, California, were charged with multiple felony counts of insurance fraud and conspiracy after a California Department of Insurance investigation reportedly found the couple underreported over $4 million in employee payroll for their construction company.
The CDI began an investigation into the Hills’Brian Hill Construction Inc. after receiving information the company paid an employee with a combination of check and cash, and that the cash pay was not reported to the company’s workers’ compensation carrier.
Between July 2017 and October 2019, Brian Hill Construction Inc. held a workers’ comp insurance policy through State Compensation Insurance Fund and between October 2019 and October 2020, it held a policy through Benchmark Insurance, according to investigators.
The investigation into Brian Hill Construction reportedly revealed the company reported roughly $135,667 in employee payroll between July 2017 and October 2019 to State Fund. However, an audit by the CDI reportedly revealed the business actually had more than $3.6 million in employee payroll for the same time period.
The investigation also reportedly revealed Brian Hill Construction reported roughly $9,140 in employee payroll between October 2019 and June 2020 to Benchmark Insurance, but an additional CDI audit reportedly revealed the company actually had more than $500,000 in employee payroll for the same time period.
Over the course of three years, the Hills failed to report more than $4,025,250 in employee payroll to their insurance carriers, resulting in the illegal reduction of workers’ comp premiums paid and $2,542,365 in premium owed to the insurance companies, according to the CDI.
The investigation also reportedly discovered one employee of Brian Hill Construction was injured on the job and sent to a local hospital where they received minimal medical treatment. The employer was legally required to file a workers’ comp claim, but the Hills circumvented the process by paying the medical facility directly and eliminating benefits the injured worker may have been entitled to, according to CDI.
Brian Hill was arraigned on Tuesday and Leslie Hill is scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday. T
The Kern County District Attorney’s Office is prosecuting the case.
Topics California
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