California Resident Arrested for Insurance Premium Fraud

Abraham Dvir of West Hills, Calif., has been arrested on four felony counts of premium fraud, in violation of section 11880 (a) of the Insurance Code, the California Department of Insurance announced. Dvir was booked at the Agoura Hills Sheriff’s Station in Los Angeles County, his bail set at $120,000. If convicted, Dvir would be facing a maximum of 15 years in prison and up to $236,000 in fines.

According to CDI Investigators, in February 2010, the Department of Insurance, Fraud Division received a suspected fraud referral from the State Compensation Insurance Fund (SCIF) reporting Dvir, the owner of United Painting & Waterproofing Co. (United Painting), underreported his payroll to SCIF. According to the referral, SCIF discovered that Dvir had falsified payroll reports for the years 2006-09. United Painting misrepresented the amount of its payroll to reduce the cost of its insurance premiums. The loss of workers’ compensation premiums to SCIF is estimated to be approximately $112,000 over the four-year period, CDI said.

Based on evidence obtained from the investigation, a warrant was issued for Dvir’s arrest on Dec. 16, 2010 and he subsequently surrendered to the Los Angeles County Sheriff. This case was investigated by the Los Angeles Fraud Division of CDI and is being prosecuted by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. Dvir’s arraignment date is pending.

Source: CDI