The owner of a commercial flooring company in San Jose, Calif., was sentenced to four months in county jail, 200 hours of community service and ordered to pay a restitution of $580,000 after pleading guilty to fraud and wage theft charges.
An investigation by the San Jose District Attorney found that Martin Helda of All Bay Area Floors had shorted his payroll to avoid paying $140,000 in insurance premiums and failed to pay his approximately 18 employees an estimated $1 million in overtime. One employee was owed as much as $60,000, according to the DA.
The investigation was launched after an insurance audit showed Helda’s payroll didn’t match the number of people working for him. The DA worked in conjunction with the Workers’ Exploitation Task Force to investigate Helda.
“Whatever you think you might be saving in the short term will cost you a lot more than money in the long term,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement. “Fraud doesn’t pay.”
Helda pleaded guilty to three fraud counts, including Workers Compensation Premium Fraud, Employment Development Department fraud, and wage theft.
