Construction worker must pay back proceeds of fake workers comp claim
A Sacramento County construction worker who last year pleaded no contest to a charge of workers’ compensation fraud has been ordered to pay back more than $100,000 in the form of restitution, authorities said Monday.
Gustavo Cisneros, who was sentenced to 150 days in Sacramento County Jail and two years of probation in the case, was ordered last week by Superior Court Judge Kenneth Brody to pay $132,023.59 to the insurance carrier that paid the fraudulent claim, District Attorney Thien Ho’s office said in a news release.
The case stemmed from a 2016 incident in which Cisneros claimed he was injured in a fall at work, Ho’s office said in a statement last year. But investigators found that he had exaggerated both his injuries and the impact on his ability to work. He was treated by several physicians, all of whom said medical examinations, tests and imaging studies did not show the injuries Cisneros was claiming, the D.A. said.
Investigators also determined that Cisneros had made at least six prior workers’ compensation claims, using different Social Security numbers and dates of birth, the office said. Court records of his case show at least three aliases in addition to the name used by authorities, as well as alternate spellings and punctuations for all four names.
He was charged in the case in September of 2019 and entered his no contest plea last December, court records show.
