A New Jersey business owner is facing up to five years in jail for allegedly committing insurance fraud to get lower premiums on his workers’ compensation policy.

Oneill Medina is the owner of Maxi-Tech, a Deptford, N.J., commercial roofing contractor. According to the Gloucester County, N.J., prosecutor’s office, Medina grossly understated the number of employees working for him in order to commit insurance fraud.

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Prosecutors said that Medina’s workers’ compensation policy with New Jersey Manufacturers insured one roofer, one carpenter and two salesmen in 2015 and 2016, according to a report in the Courier-Post. However, between eight and 10 roofers were actually working for the company at any given time during those years, authorities say.

“Falsifying payroll information ultimately hurts honest companies by increasing their insurance costs,” Prosecutor Sean F. Fulton told the Courier-Post. “These criminal investigations, aimed at eliminating fraud and abuse, will help New Jersey businesses that are doing the right thing.”


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