SANTA ANA (CNS) – A workers’ compensation applicant attorney from Orange County has been sentenced to four years in state prison and ordered to pay over $700,000 in restitution to seventeen different insurance carriers for participating in two separate insurance fraud referral schemes.
Jon Woods, 61, of Cypress, was convicted in August of 37 felony counts of insurance fraud along with an aggravated white-collar crime sentencing enhancement, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office announced Friday.
District Attorney Todd Spitzer said his office is “committed to ensuring a level playing field for business owners and insurance companies. By prosecuting bad actors and recovering fraudulently paid funds, we are helping business owners remain competitive and protecting consumers from increased premiums.”
Woods was one of 10 similar attorneys charged in June 2017 as a result of a complex insurance fraud investigation. Charges were also filed against Carlos Arguello, Fermin Iglesias, and Edgar Gonzalez, along with four chiropractors, and several employees working for Arguello.
Arguello, his employees and Iglesias have all pleaded guilty in their Orange County Superior Court cases. Arguello and Iglesias were also charged in federal court for violating federal laws related to their scheme with medical providers, resulting in a four-year federal sentence for Arguello and a five- year federal prison sentence for Iglesias, according to the Orange County DA’s…
