OTHER NEWS - May 20, 1993

Construction Firm Owners Accused of Fraud: The father and son owners of a construction firm in Sun City were arrested on felony charges of defrauding their workers’ compensation insurance company of nearly $300,000. Guadalupe Cortez, 54, and his son, Guadalupe Cortez Jr., 29, owners of Evian Construction Co., were released from the Riverside County jail on $50,000 bail each. The California Insurance Department, which investigated the company, said it believes that this is the first time that California employers have been arrested on charges of workers’ compensation fraud under a new law that went into effect last year. Authorities said the Cortezes last year failed to report $1 million in payroll to their insurer, thus avoiding paying premiums of nearly $300,000.