On 19 October 2023, Marko Lukic pleaded no contest to felony insurance fraud and felony tax evasion. The Honourable Deborah Lobre sentenced Lukic to 210 days in county jail and 2 years formal probation for each violation. He was also ordered to pay $176,297.86 in restitution to the State Compensation Insurance Fund (SCIF) and $39,631.16 in restitution to the Employment Development Department (EDD). Lukic must also pay an additional $200,000 in penalties and interest to the EDD.
In 2019, the California Department of Insurance (CDI) received information that Lukic, the owner of Lukic Construction, was committing insurance fraud. An investigation led by CDI, with assistance from SCIF, found that Lukic misrepresented the number of employees working for Lukic Construction between 2015 and 2018. This resulted in more than $170,000 in losses to SCIF for workers’ compensation insurance coverage. Also in 2019, EDD opened an investigation into Lukic and Lukic Construction Company as part of a joint investigation with CDI. The investigation found that Lukic underreported wages paid to employees by more than $800,000 between 2015 and 2018. This resulted in Lukic evading nearly $40,000 in taxes.
This type of insurance fraud puts workers at risk if they are injured on the job. It also illegally lowers costs for those committing the fraud, resulting in unfair competition that hurts other companies in the industry and consumers.
