Release Date: December 3, 2007

Contact:    Thomas Frye, Deputy District Attorney

(805) 662-1708 

District Attorney Gregory D. Totten announced today that Ventura County Superior Court Judge Bruce Clark has sentenced Tomer Rotholz (DOB 11/4/63) to two years in prison, for his participation in a workers' compensation fraud scheme. The crime was investigated by the Ventura County Underground Economy/Employer Fraud Task Force, which is comprised of the Ventura County District Attorney's Office, working with the Department of Insurance/Fraud Division, the Employment Development Department, the Department of Industrial Relations/Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, the Franchise Tax Board, and the California State Contractors Licensing Board.

Rotholz ran a landscape and street-repair contracting business initially operated under the name of Tapuz Enterprises, Inc., and then later, Nativ Engineering, Inc. From approximately 1998 to 2004, the business systematically defrauded insurance companies by failing to properly report payroll for employees to its insurance carrier. This fraud resulted in lower overhead for the company, thus allowing the defendant to underbid honest contractors. Losses to the insurance companies exceeded $200,000, of which the defendant has paid partial restitution.