The owner of a Minnesota construction company was charged with one count of workers’ compensation insurance fraud for failing to report a worker’s injury.
Nelson Israel Lopez Giron, owner of Giron Construction LLC, is accused of committing almost $20,000 of workers’ compensation insurance fraud by lying about the injury and misrepresenting his company’s payroll to reduce the policy premium.
The maximum sentence for insurance fraud is 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $20,000, or both.
An investigation by the Minnesota Commerce Fraud Bureau found that Giron failed to report a worker injury to his insurer, as required by his policy, according to KTSP Eyewitness News.
The worker was injured Feb. 6, 2020, on a worksite when a nail he was attempting to hammer bounced back and hit him in the eye. When Giron learned of the injury, he gave the worker eye drops and told them to lie about how the injury occurred when they insisted on going to the doctor. Giron didn’t report the injury to his insurer.
In July 2020, the injured worker filed a workers’ compensation claim with the Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Assigned Risk Plan but it was denied after Giron lied that he didn’t know who the worker was.
Giron also lied to the insurance agency, claiming that a subcontractor employed the injured worker, according to court records.
