The owner of a Savannah-area paint and contracting business was arrested Wednesday by state authorities, who charged him with insurance fraud and accuse him of defrauding insurance companies of about $50,000 in workers’ compensation premiums.
Cesar A. Martinez, owner of Martinez Painting Pros, was charged with insurance fraud and forgery in Effingham and Chatham counties, said Stan Bexley, director of the Enforcement Division of the state board of Workers’ Compensation. Martinez, 40, was taken to the Effingham County jail.
Martinez, whom Bexley described as a Rincon and Savannah business owner, operates Martinez Painting Pros, a paint and contracting business that provides residential and commercial painting in and around Savannah and Tybee Island.
The Enforcement Division’s investigation alleges Martinez altered several workers’ compensation insurance certificates and then presented the bogus certificates of insurance to general contractors in an attempt to avoid paying premium for a valid policy. Initial estimates indicate Martinez has defrauded the several insurance companies out of approximately $50,000 in workers’ compensation premiums.
Anyone in the Savannah area who has received a certificate of workers’ compensation insurance coverage from Martinez or Martinez Painting Pros and is unable to verify the coverage by using the Board’s website www.sbwc.georgia.gov, is asked to contact the state Board of Workers’ Compensation’s Enforcement Division at 404-657-7285 or(800-533-0682. All other lines of insurance coverage such as auto, home or general liability should be verified directly with the insurance carrier.