Ag Labor Contractors Charged in Alleged $16.4M Fraud Scheme

The California Department of Insurance on Tuesday reported that two farm labor contractors were arraigned on multiple felony charges, including insurance fraud, for allegedly underreporting payroll by more than $16.4 million to save on work comp insurance. Ruben Perez Mireles Jr., 49, and his business associate, John Mena, 29, operated two farm labor contracting companies in Kings County, Vista Pacific Labor Solutions Inc. and Calzona Ag Management Inc. CDI said the investigation by the Central Valley Workers’ Compensation Fraud Task Force found that Mireles, owner of Vista P...