A story published in ChicoER says that an Antioch businesswoman will serve 60 days in jail and pay restitution after pleading guilty to wage theft, tax fraud and a workers’ compensation violation in her operation of elderly care facilities in Antioch and Brentwood, the first conviction in an industry authorities say is “rampant” with fraud.

Florinda Yambao, 62, accepted the plea deal last week, according to the Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office. Yambao’s six Florin White Dove care homes in Antioch and Brentwood remain in operation, however her three-year probation term requires her to install proper payroll systems and undergo state audits, said prosecutor William Murphy. She is required to pay $453,000 in back wages and yet-to-be determined tax charges and state fines as part of her deal.

Nearly $72,000 was recovered from Yambao during a series of September raids on care homes throughout Contra Costa County, all accused of paying workers under the table and for as little as $4 an hour. In some cases, officials have said, caregivers in her employ worked 12 to 16 hours a day for $50 to $80 total.

After an article by the ChicoER on the searches, Murphy said his office, which has worked with state and federal officials in a yearlong investigation, was flooded with accusations against more homes. “We were inundated with similar problems in other homes in Contra Costa County,” Murphy said. “It appears to be rampant.”

The Contra Costa Employer Fraud Task Force is investigating the owners of nine other care homes that operate 40 facilities in the county. The investigation has uncovered a pattern of underground economy violations where these businesses increased their profits by avoiding taxes, insurance and fair wages, according to the Contra Costa DA’s office. The probe has also found many of the workers are mistreated, working long hours for less than minimum wage, living in substandard conditions, and being forced to care for patients during their time off, the task force said in a statement.

In addition to Yambao, police arrested Sara Abraham and Annette and Julio Sanchez of Abraham Rest Homes Inc. and Sanchez Abraham Corp. after a series of September raids on 19 residential care homes in Walnut Creek, Concord, Brentwood and Antioch. Authorities said about 60 workers were owed $2 million, and $624,000 in state fines against the companies would be split among the workers. Authorities said they were also investigating the owners of Scienn Hall Care homes in Brentwood, but no arrests were made.

While there were no allegations of mistreatment of patients at Yambao’s homes, state records showed that five facilities shown as “Floran Care Home” or “Floran White Dove Care Home” received as many as 19 citations in their inspections. “Ms. Yambao, as the owner and boss of these care facilities, was in a position of power over her employees,” District Attorney Mark Peterson said. “She used that position to exploit the workers and line her own pockets with the cash. It was pure greed.”