A Rialto man was arraigned Wednesday at the San Bernardino Justice Center on charges of contracting without a valid contractor’s license and operating a contracting business without workers’ compensation insurance.
71-year-old Samuela Tupola is charged with one misdemeanor count of Contracting Without License and one misdemeanor count of Doing Business As An Uninsured Employer. He plead not guilty to both counts at today’s arraignment.
On March 1, 2017, Senior Investigators from the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office arrested Samuela Tupola, of Rialto, for the two misdemeanor offenses.
This case is assigned to Deputy District Attorney Michael Chiriatti and was investigated by Senior District Attorney Investigator Roger Planas. If convicted as charged, Tupola must serve at least 90 days in jail, and pay fines and fees over $15,000.00. Tupola is scheduled to appear June 6.
“Our workers’ comp. fraud unit was started to create a fair playing field for everybody involved in San Bernardino County,” District Attorney Mike Ramos said. “When individuals contract without a valid license or engage in business without being properly insurance, they feed the underground economy and make it more difficult for legitimate contracts and businesses to compete.”