| For Immediate Release Case # 08CF0483 February 26, 2008 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Public Affairs Counsel Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami |
ROOFING CONTRACTOR TO BE ARRAIGNED FOR INSURANCE FRAUD AND FAILING TO PAY TAXES
AFTER WORKER FALLS FROM ROOF
SANTA ANA – A roofing contractor and business owner will be arraigned tomorrow on charges of failing to provide Workers’ Compensation Insurance for an employee who fell from a roof and failing to pay the insurance company more than $700,000 in premiums. Michael Amzie Holley, 40, Murrieta, is charged with two counts of perjury by declaration, two counts of recording false and forged instruments, one count of misrepresenting facts to the State Compensation Insurance Fund (SCIF), seven counts of making a fraudulent statement, one count of presenting a fraudulent material statement to obtain compensation, one count of making a false statement to discourage an injured worker from claiming benefits, one count of willfully failing to pay taxes, and one count of failing to file a return with the intent to evade taxes. Holley also faces sentencing enhancements for aggravated white collar crime over $500,000 and property damage over $150,000. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 19 years and four months in prison. Holley is being held on $2 million bail and is scheduled to be arraigned tomorrow Wednesday, February 27, 2008 at 9:00 a.m. in Department C-55, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana.
Holley is a roofing contractor and owner of So Cal Roofing. He is accused of purchasing a minimum workers’ compensation policy from SCIF and failing to state that he employed subcontractors, paid workers in cash, hired unlicensed employees, and leased employees from other companies. Holley is accused of paying his employees approximately $815,000 in cash to hide the fact that So Cal Roofing had workers. Holley is accused of receiving the insurance based on his false declaration, and entering into a contract requiring SCIF to cover all workers employed by Holley, even those employees unknown to the insurance company. Holley is accused of submitting inaccurate payroll reports to SCIF, resulting in a $703,000 underpayment of insurance premiums. To hide the fraud, Holley is accused of failing to file a tax return to avoid paying $188,000 in taxes to the State.
On March 18, 2003, one of Holley’s employees was injured when he fell off a roof, and subsequently filed a Worker’s Compensation Insurance claim. Holley is accused of denying that the injured employee worked for him, thus denying the injured employee his Workers’ Compensation Insurance benefits. On February 24, 2004 and March 2, 2005, Holley is accused of falsely signing under penalty of perjury that he had no employees at So Cal Roofing and filing these documents with the California State Contractor’s Licensing Board to make him exempt from securing Worker’s Compensation Insurance.
“In June of 2007, I created a Premium Fraud task force to investigate premium fraud cases, where businesses intentionally misrepresent financial figures, pay some of its employees in cash, or misclassify employee’s job descriptions in order to pay a lower workers’ compensation premiums,” said Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas. “When employers cheat the system, it creates an uneven playing field for other employers who play by the rules. Not only does this create a substantial financial loss for insurance carriers, but that cost is passed on to the public and policy holders in terms of higher premiums and insurance costs.”
This case was investigated by the Orange County District Attorney (OCDA) Workers’ Compensation Fraud Unit. Anyone with information about a business suspected of operating without Workers’ Compensation Insurance or committing insurance fraud is encouraged to call Supervising District Attorney Investigator Paul Bartlett at (714) 648-3667. Deputy District Attorney Debra Jackson of the Insurance Fraud Unit is prosecuting this case.