Paul Ronald Payne (DOB 6/21/1968), of Simi Valley, was sentenced to 365 days in the Ventura County jail and ordered to pay $1,058,058 in restitution to the State Compensation Insurance Fund for underreporting payroll and failing to pay workers’ compensation insurance premiums.

Payne operated a roofing and painting business called Paul Payne Roofing. The business involved hiring and maintaining a crew of employees to work roofing and painting jobs.

Between 2012 and 2016, Payne submitted payroll reports to the State Compensation Insurance Fund indicating that he did not have any employees and thus paid only a fraction of the workers’ compensation premiums he owed.

One of Payne’s employees reported a traumatic injury in 2016, alerting the insurer that Payne was operating his business without reporting his true payroll.

In addition to his jail sentence, Payne was placed on six years of formal probation and paid $25,000 toward restitution prior to sentencing. He was ordered to continue making monthly restitution payments.

Workers’ compensation insurance fraud is not a victimless crime. It harms local businesses that pay for workers’ compensation insurance because their costs and prices are higher than those of uninsured and underinsured businesses. Uninsured and under-insured employers also risk the safety of their workers by failing to provide them with adequate protection from on-the-job injuries.

The Ventura County District Attorney’s Office takes a vigorous stance against workers’ compensation insurance fraud and works with local and state agencies to prosecute such fraud.