California Contractor Arraigned for Workers’ Comp Fraud

Adan Deniz, 43, a contractor from Santa Clarita, California, was arraigned on 21 felony counts of forgery, theft by false pretense, and workers’ compensation insurance fraud after allegedly creating fraudulent certificates to secure jobs and underreporting payroll by over $425,000 to save thousands on insurance premiums.

The California Department of Insurance began an investigation after a licensed insurance agent reported they had received a copy of a fraudulent certificate of insurance, which reportedly had been issued in the agent’s name, and contained a forgery of his signature.

The investigation reportedly showed that Deniz created the alleged fraudulent certificate and nine other fraudulent certificates of insurance between May of 2018 and July of 2020.

Each of the certificates reportedly contained false information about insurance coverage, as well as a forged signature from a licensed insurance agent. Deniz submitted the fraudulent certificates to his clients and to government agencies to convince them he had the required insurance coverage, according to investigators.

These fraudulent certificates enabled Deniz to unfairly secure several lucrative plumbing jobs and government permits related to those jobs, which he would have otherwise been unable to secure, according to the CDI.

Investigators also reportedly found that Deniz underreported his company’s payroll from July of 2016 through July of 2019. A review found he allegedly underreported payroll by $426,750 in order to avoid paying $52,269 in insurance premiums to the State Compensation Insurance Fund.

The case is being prosecuted by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. Deniz is scheduled to return to court on May 25.