No ‘El Dorado’ for This Fraud Attempt

James Kolesar of El Dorado County appeared in El Dorado County Court and pled guilty to one count of employer misrepresentation fraud. The El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office is prosecuting the case. Kolesar, 30, will be sentenced at a later date.

In May 2001, CDI investigators received an anonymous call alleging that Kolesar, owner and operator of Kolesar Tree Services, was underreporting his workers’ comp insurance premiums. The investigation revealed that Kolesar did not have workers’ comp insurance from Oct. 29, 1997 to Aug. 10, 1999. Kolesar did eventually obtain workers’ comp insurance on Aug. 10, 1999; however, he underreported the wages he paid to his employees.

A search warrant was served on Kolesar’s business and his bank. A CDI auditor evaluated Kolesar’s business records, and determined for the time period of Sept. 1, 1999 to June 30, 2000, Kolesar underreported wages totaling over $15,000. This resulted in a loss of $4,751 in workers’ comp premiums to his carrier.

Furthermore, an audit conducted by the California Employment Development Department concluded Kolesar had unpaid employment taxes in the amount of $4,519 and penalties and interest in the amount of $6,359. This represents a total of $10,878 from April 1998 through September 2000.