San Bernardino, CA – Almirante Perez of Highland was recently arraigned on multiple felony counts of insurance fraud and tax evasion after allegedly underreporting employees and wages in an attempt to reduce his businesses’ insurance premiums and payroll taxes by over $2.5 million.
Perez was the owner of Capital Janitorial Services, Cal Best Service Group Inc., Southern Pacific Janitorial Group and United Pacific Contractors Inc., from March 2013 to November 2018.
An investigation by the Department of Insurance revealed Perez failed to report employees and wages to his workers’ compensation insurance carrier and to the Employment Development Department (EDD). The investigation discovered $1,982,597 in underreported premium fraud and $609,430 in payroll taxes owed to the EDD.
“Legitimate businesses and California consumers pay the price when business owners cheat the system by illegally underreporting employees and wages,” said Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara. “We all pay for this type of fraud through higher premiums and costs of services. My Department is committed to investigating fraud to protect consumers and businesses.”
Perez was arraigned on October 22, 2020, at San Bernardino County Superior Court and pleaded not guilty to all charges. The San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office is prosecuting this case.
Source: CDI