Springfield, IL – The Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission recently announced that a Cook County Grand Jury has returned Class 4 felony indictments against three employers for failing to obtain workers’ compensation insurance. Class 4 felony penalties are 1-3 years in penitentiary and/or fines up to $25,000.
- John Linek, individually, and as President of SMS Logistics of Chicago. Mr. Linek has workers’ comp insurance on several other businesses but continues to operate his trucking business without insurance. He has at least one injured worker.
- Kevin Warren, individually, and as President and Secretary of Symphony Transport a/k/a Big R Transport of Melrose Park. Mr. Warren agreed to secure insurance and signed a settlement agreement to pay a $10,000 fine. He never complied with the agreement, and the insurance he secured was cancelled within a few months.
- Ahmed Ghosien d/b/a Ghosien European Auto Werks in Hometown. Mr. Ghosien never had insurance. He agreed to secure insurance and pay a fine for noncompliance, but he never made payments and the insurance was cancelled a few months later for nonpayment.
It should be noted that these are charges only and all persons are presumed innocent until otherwise determined, if at all, by a court of competent jurisdiction.
In addition, since the legislature authorized the Commission to issue citations to uninsured employers, we have collected over $100,000 from 199 uninsured employers and brought over 1,000 employees under the coverage of the Act.
Source: IL WCC