Ventura County District Attorney Gregory D. Totten announced that Sergio Ordonez, 32 years old, was sentenced after he previously pled guilty to a felony violation of Insurance Code section 1871.4(a). Ordonez made a false and fraudulent material statement for the purpose of obtaining worker’s compensation benefits. Ordonez was placed on summary probation for two years and sentenced to serve 120 days in jail. Prior to sentencing, Ordonez paid full restitution of $26,190 to the victim in this case, Falls Lake Fire & Casualty Insurance Company (Falls Lake).
Ordonez was formerly employed as a janitor when he was injured in a motor vehicle accident. After the collision, he was placed off work and began collecting temporary total disability benefits. During this time, Falls Lake learned Ordonez was collecting benefits for allegedly being unable to work, but was in fact working as a full-time janitor for a different company. Lying to an insurance company about being unable to return to work is a crime. The fraudulent actions in this case led to inflated costs to the insurance company, his employer, and consumers. Insurance fraud is not a victimless crime and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.