A husband and wife were charged with workers’ compensation fraud for underreporting more than $4 million in payroll for their California-based construction company.
Brian Hill and Leslie Hill, the owners of Brian Hill Construction, were charged with multiple felony counts of insurance fraud and conspiracy following a California Department of Insurance investigation.
Brian Hill was arraigned July 25, 2023, and Leslie Hill was scheduled to be arraigned on July 27, 2023. No other court dates were provided.
Company paid employees with combination of check, cash
The investigation began when the Department of Insurance received information that the company paid an employee with a combination of check and cash. The cash portion allegedly wasn’t reported to the company’s workers’ compensation carrier.
Brian Hill Construction held a workers’ compensation insurance policy through the State Compensation Insurance Fund from July 2017 through October 2019. The company changed carriers to Benchmark Insurance in October 2019 and kept that policy through October 2020.
Investigators found that the company reported $135,667 in payroll while it held the policy with the State Compensation Insurance Fund. However, an audit revealed that the company actually had more than $3.6 million in payroll for the same time period.
An additional audit revealed that Brian Hill Construction reported $9,140 in payroll to Benchmark Insurance while actually having more than $500,000 in payroll.
Within three years, the Hills failed to report more than $4,025,250 in payroll to their workers’ compensation insurance carriers, resulting in a total loss for both carriers of $2,542,365.
Hills paid hospital directly to avoid injured worker’s claim
The investigation also revealed that one Brian Hill Construction employee was injured on the job and was sent to a local hospital “where they received minimal medical treatment,” according to the Department of Insurance.
Brian Hill Construction was required by law to file a workers’ compensation claim, but the Hills skirted the process by paying the hospital directly and eliminating benefits the worker may have been entitled to.
