A Santa Clarita, California-based contractor was arraigned April 8 for a $425,000 workers’ compensation fraud scheme.
Adan Deniz was charged with 21 felony counts of workers’ compensation fraud, forgery and theft by false pretense for allegedly underreporting payroll by more than $425,000 and creating false certificates of insurance to secure jobs.
He forged insurance certificates
A licensed insurance agent reported to the California Department of Insurance that he received a copy of a fraudulent certificate from Deniz’ business, issued in his name and with a forgery of his signature.
An investigation revealed Deniz created the certificate and nine others like it between May 2018 and July 2020. Each certificate contained false information about insurance coverage and a forged signature from the insurance agent.
Deniz then submitted the certificates to clients and government agencies to convince them he had the required insurance coverage. The false certificates allowed him to “unfairly secure several lucrative plumbing jobs and government permits related to those jobs, which he would have otherwise been unable to secure.”
Underreported payroll to save $52K
Investigators also found Deniz underreported his company’s payroll from July 2016 through July 2019 and underreported payroll by $426,750 to avoid paying $52,269 in insurance premiums.
Deniz is scheduled to appear in court again May 25, 2022.
