Monterey Woman Charged With Workers’ Comp Fraud

Monterey County, Calif., District Attorney Dean D. Flippo announced that Roberta Brunet has pled to charges of failure to remit payroll taxes and failure to secure workers’ compensation insurance. The defendant was then sentenced on the misdemeanor charges by Judge Robert Burlison.

Brunet is the owner of Your Hometown Sewing Center located in Marina. The investigation was initiated after Monterey County District Attorney investigators of the Workers’ Compensation Fraud Unit and California Department of Insurance investigators from the Morgan Hill office contacted the defendant at her business. The contact was made during an enforcement operation for workers’ compensation insurance on employers in Monterey County.

Burnet was placed on probation for three years and ordered to pay the Employment Development Department [EDD] $5,233.19 and daily interest in restitution. Prior to pleading and sentencing, the defendant had previously made arrangements with EDD to pay $1,000 a month until paid in full and had paid back taxes in the amount of $2,744.16 owed to EDD. In addition to standard terms and conditions of probation, Brunet was ordered not to conduct business in violation of the law. She was also ordered to pay $5,000 to the State of California Workers’ Compensation Fraud Account.

Source: Monterey DA