“California contractors were sickened by the news in the recent California Department of Insurance (CDI) announcement on the arrest of the unscrupulous owners of A & F Engineering who allegedly committed insurance fraud and denied insurance benefits to an employee’s family. As announced by Commissioner Dave Jones, A & F Engineering’s employee, Jose Villanueva, was killed in a work-related accident. As a consequence of owners Allan and Carolina Pacheco’s failure to pay less than $12,000 in workers’ compensation insurance premiums, Villanueva’s wife and three children will receive no death benefits, which would have been “approximately $650,000 plus burial benefits.” If convicted of the charges, the owners face time in state prison and as much as $710,000 in fines and reparation.
“We appreciate CDI’s efforts in catching swindlers like these business owners. It is truly unfortunate that a family has to suffer this way and be denied what is rightfully theirs,” said Northern California Electrical Construction Industry Labor Management Cooperative Trust Executive Director Andre Gardner. “Too often, legitimate trade contractors lose work to corrupt contractors who underbid jobs and cheat their workers, making it difficult to compete on a fair and level playing field.”
Conduct due diligence and verify insurance coverage of all of your business partners. Be Sure.
Click here to access the full news article
