Bay Area business owner sentenced for insurance premium fraud
News: 2013 Press Release
Sacramento - Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones announced today that Teresa Reif, 34, of Redwood City, has been sentenced for insurance premium fraud. Reif, who originally plead no contest to eight felony counts, was sentenced in San Mateo County Superior Court to serve one year in jail, five years probation as well as being ordered to pay over $2 million in restitution to the insurers that she defrauded.
According to investigators from the California Department of Insurance (CDI), in April of 2011, Reif was the president of Genesis Building Services, Inc. which operated a janitorial and pest control company in the Bay Area. An investigation which lasted several years found that Reif had misrepresented the number of employees at the company as well as its actual payroll when applying for workers' compensation insurance to its insurer. The insurer received conflicting statements from Genesis staff regarding the actual number of employees at the company. Based on these conflicting reports, the insurer notified CDI and the fraud division began an investigation which eventually led to the arrest of Reif.
The case was prosecuted by the San Mateo County District Attorney's office.
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.
