Executives from a Chatsworth flooring company have been charged with workers’ compensation fraud for bilking an insurance fund out of more than $7 million. The district attorney’s office Monday issued a felony complaint charging Gad Leshem, president and CEO of Cover-All Inc., with four counts of premium fraud and one count of conspiracy. A felony complaint was also filed against Zeev Golan and Irit Golan charging with four counts of premium fraud and one count of conspiracy. Zeev Golan is the company’s vice president and wife Irit Golan is executive secretary and payroll supervisor. The charges stem from an audit by State Compensation Insurance Fund, which provided Cover-All with a workers’ compensation policy since September 2001. The audits revealed that payroll reported to SCIF was significantly lower than the amount reported to the Employment Development Department, according to the district attorney’s office. A complaint about the discrepancy was referred to the CDI Fraud Division and a later investigation found that from September 2001 to April 2005 Cover-All underreported payroll of $26.9 million to SCIF. The underreported payroll resulted in a premium loss of $7.6 million. The district attorney’s office claims Zeev and Irit Golan were responsible for preparing the alleged fraudulent monthly payroll reports provided to SCIF, which were also reviewed and approved by Leshem. Leshem and Zeev Golan also allegedly provided the fraudulent payroll documents to SCIF during routine audits. Bail was set at $6.5 million, but was reduced to $100,000. If convicted, the three could face up to five years in prison and a $50,000 fine or double the amount of the fraud. Arraignment is scheduled for Nov. 13. Leshem founded Cover-All in 1992 to provide flooring installation services to commercial clients. The company now has 40 locations across the country.
