Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., et al. v. Viking Industrial Security, Inc., et al., Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division: Somerset County, Docket Nos. SOM-L-525-07; SOM-L-1223-07.
On January 20, 2011, the Superior Court of New Jersey entered a $1.4 million judgment in this case of first impression. The judgment is based on the 35 page written opinion in which the Court applied both New Jersey’s workers compensation fraud statute and Insurance Fraud Prevention Act to an elaborate premium fraud scheme.
The fraud scheme involved the creation and maintenance by the employer/insured of two sets of payroll records and corresponding payroll tax returns. One set of payroll records was referred to as “small” payroll, it was small payroll only that was provided to the workers compensation premium auditors; not “large” payroll.
The insurer’s forensic analysis disclosed that the employer also “hid” significant amounts of payroll in the company’s expense accounts in its QuickBooks accounting records. A court ordered download of the employer’s computers allowed the insurer to confirm and quantify “hidden” payroll.
For a copy of the decision click here
Jonathan Kuller and Anthony J. Golowski II
https://www.goldbergsegalla.com/attorneys/Kuller.html
https://www.goldbergsegalla.com/attorneys/Golowski.html