Jay Neal Wright, 48, and his son Jay Neal Wright II, 27, both residential framing contractors of Phoenix, Ariz.; Don Jay Wright, 80, of Mesa, Ariz.; and Attorney Timothy Miller, 43, of Riverside, Calif.; were charged with multiple felony counts of workers’ compensation insurance fraud and employment tax evasion.
Arrest warrants were issued for all four suspects following a coordinated investigation conducted by the California Department of Insurance (CDI), the California Employment Development Department, the California Franchise Tax Board and the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office. Investigators were assisted by the Arizona Department of Insurance, the State Compensation Insurance Fund (SCIF) and Golden Eagle Insurance Company.
Investigators found that Jay Neal Wright and his son operated Highland Framers of Northern California Inc., a large residential framing company with a multi-million dollar payroll. In late 1993, the Wrights allegedly represented to insurers and state employment tax authorities that they had divested themselves of their carpentry labor force, and decided to work instead with outside subcontractors. However, an examination of the alleged subcontractors used after 1993 revealed that at least two were merely shell corporations operated under direct control of Highland Framers.
The fraud cost roughly $2 million in losses to insurers and roughly $6 million in losses to the state, according to investigators.
Topics California
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