SAN DIEGO/SAN FRANCISCO -- San Diego County Superior Court Judge David Danielsen ordered the owner of a San Diego area tree service company to pay $129,000 in restitution to the State Compensation Insurance Fund as a result of a workers’ compensation insurance fraud case.  Kenneth Bojok, 65, who owns Lakeside-based Ken Bojok Tree Service, was also sentenced to 3 years informal probation and ordered to do 250 hours of community service as part of his conviction on one count of workers’ compensation insurance premium fraud and one count of tax evasion.

State Fund aided the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office in its investigation of Bojok who paid some of his employees via payroll check and the balance in cash and some employees all in cash. Under this arrangement, Bojok avoided paying proper workers’ compensation premiums to State Fund which insured his company since 1997.

State Fund uncovered the fraud while processing a claim from one of Bojok’s employees who revealed that he was paid partially in cash and partially by a check.

According to San Diego County Prosecutor Dave Bagheri, Bojok defrauded State Fund alone of approximately $129,000 and was charged with 3 counts of IC11880(a) (Insurance Fraud), 4 counts of U12117.5 (Tax Evasion) and 4 counts of U12118.5 (Tax Fraud).

“The San Diego County District Attorney’s Office continues to do outstanding work in battling workers’ compensation fraud,” said Darlyn Regan, who manages State Fund's Fraud Investigation Program (FIP). “By working in cooperation with the DA’s Office, several million dollars have been recovered.”

State Fund’s Fraud Investigation Program (FIP) addresses all aspects of workers’ compensation insurance fraud, including employee, employer, medical and legal. In the last decade, State Fund’s FIP has produced hundreds of arrests and convictions in a wide range of workers’ compensation cases, including some considered milestones in California’s fight against fraud.

Editor’s Note: Established by the California Legislature in 1914, State Compensation Insurance Fund is a nonprofit, and wholly self-supporting public enterprise carrier that provides workers’ compensation coverage at cost to all California employers.