SOLANO COUNTY, CA (MPG) - On April 5, 2024, before the Honorable Wendy G. Getty Presiding, Defendant Kent Bo Fridolfsson, 67, of Benicia,  pled Guilty to six counts of Insurance Fraud and Grand Theft after a joint investigation with the California Department of Insurance, Solano County District Attorney’s Office, and Employment Development Department (EDD) revealed he  illegally underreported payroll by nearly $1 million to avoid paying workers’ compensation insurance premiums and  taxes. Defendant Fridolfsson was placed on felony probation, ordered to serve 120 days (ASP), pay over $725,000 in restitution, a $50,000 fine to the Department of Insurance, and surrender his general contractor’s license. 

Defendant Fridolfsson had insurance coverage with the State Compensation Insurance Fund (State Fund) from 2010 to 2021 and was required to accurately report payroll during each policy period. From 2010 to 2019 Fridolfsson reported zero payroll to State Fund. In January 2019, one of the defendant’s employees contacted State Fund after sustaining a work-related injury. After being contacted by State Fund, the Contractor’s State Licensing Board, Joint Enforcement Strike Force conducted a site inspection of Fridolfsson’s business and interviewed a number of his employees.

Solano County District Attorney Investigator Dave Jackson personally interviewed over a dozen witnesses in this case, including several of the defendant’s employees, the injured worker, and the defendant himself. 

In total, the joint investigation found that Fridolfsson underreported his payroll by $989,823. By fraudulently reporting his employee payroll totals, defendant illegally reduced the amount of workers’ compensation insurance premiums he paid, leading to approximately $382,104 in lost premiums owed to State Fund. The underreported payroll also resulted in an unpaid payroll tax to the Employment Development Department of approximately $347,520.

“This conviction is a step forward in the ongoing fight to protect all the hard-working citizens of Solano County that show up to work every day and keep our businesses running,” said District Attorney Krishna Abrams. 

This case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Irene Chew.