A plumbing contractor in California has been charged with 21 felony counts of forgery, theft under false pretences, and workers’ compensation insurance fraud.
According to the California Department of Insurance, Adan Deniz, 43, is accused of forging certifications to gain jobs and underreporting wages by more than $426,000 to save money on insurance premiums.
“When this contractor allegedly manufactured fake credentials to gain contracts, he gave himself an unfair edge,” stated California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara. “This work may have been given to other companies that followed the rules.” Instead, he jeopardised the trust of his clientele. My department is dedicated to investigating insurance fraud in order to protect Californians and level the playing field for industrious company owners who are the backbone of our economy.”
After an insurance agent reported receiving a copy of a false certificate of insurance issued in the agent’s name with a forgery of his signature, the department began investigating Deniz.
Deniz allegedly fabricated the bogus certificate, as well as nine other phoney certificates of insurance, between May 2018 and July 2020, according to the inquiry. Each of the falsified certificates had fake insurance coverage information and a counterfeit signature appearing to be from a qualified insurance agent.
Deniz allegedly used the forged certificates to deceive his clients and government organisations into believing he had the necessary insurance coverage. Deniz was able to gain unfair access to various plumbing jobs and government permits as a result of these fraudulent certifications.
Investigators discovered Deniz had underreported his company’s payroll from July 2016 to July 2019 when probing the bogus insurance certificates. According to a review, he allegedly underreported payroll by $426,750 in order to avoid paying the State Compensation Insurance Fund $52,269 in insurance payments.
