The owner of a private building maintenance company employed by
UCLA to paint dorm rooms was charged last week with filing at least
four fake workers’ compensation claims totaling between
$600,000 and $900,000, and is also suspected of stealing money from
one of his workers.
Charles Yi, 61, owner and president of Natural Building
Maintenance Corp., was arrested on suspicion of the charges Nov. 29
and was held on $160,000 bail.
Yi pleaded not guilty during his arraignment a day later and is
scheduled for a preliminary hearing Dec. 21. Natural Building
Maintenance Corp. also provides janitorial services for the Rose
Bowl. Deputy district attorney Renee Korn is prosecuting Yi and
said he claimed 15 to 18 employees when buying workers’
compensation insurance, despite actually employing between 300 and
400 workers.
The insurance company could have lost up to $900,000, Korn said
in a Dec. 1 statement from the Los Angeles district
attorney’s office. Yi’s charges date back to August
2000:
“¢bull; Yi is suspected of committing workers’
compensation fraud, a felony, between Aug. 12, 2000, and Nov. 29,
2001, by filing a fake workers’ compensation claim. According
to court documents, Maria Kramer from the California State
Department of Insurance did not discover the alleged crime until
Oct. 29, 2003.
“¢bull; Yi is accused of committing a similar crime, insurance
fraud, around a year later between Aug. 12, 2001, and Oct. 16,
2002. Yi is accused of committing insurance fraud two more times
between Aug. 12, 2002, and Nov. 23, 2004.
“¢bull; Yi is also charged with stealing a portion of one of his
workers’ wages, a felony, between Jan. 1, 2001, and April 1,
2004.
According to the California insurance code, for each count of
fraud Yi could face a penalty of up to five years in state prison
and/or a fine of $50,000 or double the amount of fraud, whichever
is larger.