Image via WikipediaLOS ANGELES – Three former employees of Tristar, a third-party administrator of workers’ compensation claims for Los Angeles County, and their wives are expected to be in court next week to face fraud charges for allegedly bilking more than $1.5 million from the county.Christian Ramirez, 24 (dob 5/13/86), of Irvine, and Hugo Ramirez, 26 (dob 11/13/83), of Mission Viejo, are each charged with nine felony counts in case No. BA376217. The two men are brothers.
The charges against them include false and fraudulent claims, claims adjuster fraud, grand theft of personal property, grand theft by embezzlement, public officer embezzling for personal use, false personation and failure to file income tax return.
Their father, Javier Ramirez, 51, also a former Tristar employee, is charged with five felony counts. His wife, Maria Ochoa, 47, is charged with six felony counts. The couple resides in Santa Ana.
The wives of the two brothers – Sandra Orozco, 24, of Irvine, and Dominique Boudreaux, 25, of Los Angeles – are each charged with six counts. Boudreaux appeared in court today and pleaded not guilty to the charges. Boudreaux, whose bail was set at $187,000, is due to return on Oct. 8.
Deputy District Attorney Samer Hathout said the remaining defendants will appear for arraignment on Monday in Department 30 of the Foltz Criminal Justice Center. Fraud investigators from the California Department of Insurance arrested the six defendants on Sept. 29.
Tristar Insurance Group is the county’s third-party administrator for workers’ compensation claims. The Ramirez brothers were employed as claims adjusters and were responsible for administering workers’ compensation claims of Los Angeles County employees injured on the job.
An investigation conducted by the California Department of Insurance revealed that the brothers allegedly referred transportation and investigative business to four companies – Transco Transportation, Inc., Universal Transportation Services, Paramount Transportation and Oncall Investigation Services – owned by various family members. The companies would then sub-contract the services to other vendors and allegedly pocket the difference.
Defendant Javier Ramirez allegedly processed the fraudulent bills.
If convicted as charged, the defendants up to nine years in state prison.
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