The owners of a Santa Barbara paving company have been charged with worker’s compensation fraud and wage theft crimes after a multi-jurisdictional fraud investigation, according to the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office.
United Seal Coating owner Alberto Rodriguez, his wife, Maria Rodriguez, and longtime employee Bryon Duran were arrested Wednesday on 42 felony counts, including worker’s compensation premium fraud, fraudulent denial of worker’s compensation benefits, wage theft and violations of the California Unemployment Insurance Code, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
The investigation was conducted by the California Department of Insurance Fraud Division, the District Attorney’s Office, the Franchise Tax Board, the Employment Development Department, and the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement.
“If you were employed by United Seal Coating, United Seal Coating and Slurry Seal, Inc., Santa Barbara Paving or United Paving within the past four years and believe you were a victim of wage theft or denied worker’s compensation benefits, you are encouraged to contact the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office at 805.568.2300,” the office said in a statement.
Rodriguez, Rodriguez and Duran have legal representation from Bamieh & Erickson in Ventura and the firm released a statement shortly after the announcement from the District Attorney’s Office.
“The District Attorney has capitulated to several years of pressure from labor unions in deciding to file charges against Al Rodriguez’ business, United Seal Coating,” Bamieh said in a statement. Unions have long complained about the “non-union business.”
Bamieh alleged that the charges against Maria Rodriguez and Duran were brought to pressure Rodriguez and because this company “was able to provide construction more efficiently and economically than union companies on construction jobs on the UCSB campus.”
He also claimed people have been “hounding” Rodriguez for four years and filed charges now due to the statute of limitations.
All three suspects will appear in Santa Barbara County Superior Court for arraignment Jan. 30, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
— Noozhawk news editor Giana Magnoli can be reached at gmagnoli@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.