Central Valley Workers’ Comp Fraud Task Force uncovers $2.5 million in underreported payroll by Fresno business owners
News: 2022 Press Release
FRESNO, Calif. — Karamjit Nijjar, 57, his wife Rajinder Kaur Nijjar, 55, and their daughter Mandip Nijjar, 31, were arraigned today on four felony counts each for their involvement in a workers’ compensation insurance fraud scheme after allegedly underreporting over $2.5 million in employee payroll to illegally reduce insurance premiums.
The investigation, led by the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office, began after the California Department of Insurance received a tip that an employee of a Fresno area trucking business owned by Karamjit Nijjar was denied workers’ compensation benefits. Throughout the course of the investigation, investigators with the Central Valley Workers’ Compensation Fraud Task Force identified an additional business related to Nijjar, Renteria Trucking.
According to various business records, Karamjit and Rajinder Nijjar own and operate Renteria Trucking. Their daughter, Mandip Nijjar, is an employee.
The task force investigation into Renteria Trucking revealed the company reported approximately $2,475,000 in employee payroll during their routine payroll audits; however, a forensic audit revealed Renteria Trucking actually had over
$5 million in employee payroll for the same time period.
The amount of unreported payroll identified totaled $2,577,035. The misrepresentations made by the Nijjars resulted in the reduction of workers’ compensation insurance premiums paid, a violation of Insurance Code 11880(a) for each policy period, which resulted in $352,913 in premium owed to the State Compensation Insurance Fund.
The Central Valley Workers’ Compensation Fraud Task Force is an inter-agency anti-fraud partnership with members from the California Department of Insurance, the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office, the Tulare County District Attorney’s Office, the Kings County District Attorney’s Office, the Kern County District Attorney’s Office, the Merced County District Attorney’s Office, the Madera County District Attorney’s Office, the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office, the California Employment Development Department, and the California Franchise Tax Board.
Karamjit Nijjar, his wife Rajinder Kaur Nijjar, and Mandip Nijjar pleaded not guilty to the charges and are expected back in court on November 15, 2022. The Fresno County District Attorney’s Office is prosecuting this case.
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Led by Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, the California Department of Insurance is the consumer protection agency for the nation's largest insurance marketplace and safeguards all of the state’s consumers by fairly regulating the insurance industry. Under the Commissioner’s direction, the Department uses its authority to protect Californians from insurance rates that are excessive, inadequate, or unfairly discriminatory, oversee insurer solvency to pay claims, set standards for agents and broker licensing, perform market conduct reviews of insurance companies, resolve consumer complaints, and investigate and prosecute insurance fraud. Consumers are urged to call 1-800-927-4357 with any questions or contact us at www.insurance.ca.gov via webform or online chat. Non-media inquiries should be directed to the Consumer Hotline at 800-927-4357. Teletypewriter (TTY), please dial 800-482-4833.
